


MRS. JEON

by jiminieejamzz



Series: “THE JEONS” [3]
Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Action/Adventure, Anxiety Attacks, Blood and Gore, Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, Dialogue Heavy, Doctor Kim Seokjin | Jin, Drama, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Drugs, Explicit Language, F/M, Family Issues, Female Empowerment, Flashbacks, Genius Kim Namjoon | RM, Guns, Heavy Plot, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Injury, Kidnapping, Kim Namjoon | RM is Bad at Feelings, Kissing, Knives, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Mind Manipulation, Mystery, NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Male Characters - Freeform, POV Alternating, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychopathology & Sociopathy, Psycopath, READ THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS FIRST, References to Depression, References to Drugs, Relationship Issues, Romance, Sope, Suicide Attempt, Suspense, THIS IS THE THIRD BOOK, Torture, Trust Issues, Violence, Yeonbin, Yoonseok - Freeform, blood mixed with blood, cute little kisses, light fluff, mafia, mature content, namjin - Freeform, no one is who they seem, psychopathic behavior, teenage love, use of flashbacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:15:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 28,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28942056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jiminieejamzz/pseuds/jiminieejamzz
Summary: Third book in 'THE JEONS' seriesWhen Hoseok told you that your brother was still alive, it set a fire in you. You have to find him. There's just one problem. Kim Sungho. Your father has been after you for years. You thought you were finally safe from him, but you were wrong and when the man gets his hands on you, you are unable to escape his clutches.Being in his grasp is scary, but it is worse that you have no idea why he can't bring himself to kill you. He keeps mentioning this "thing" that he has to get out of you first. But what mysterious thing is this?What will Jeongguk and the gang do to save you now that you don't have much time to live?
Relationships: Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun, Jeon Jungkook & Reader, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Min Yoongi | Suga, Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Seokjin | Jin
Series: “THE JEONS” [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1975885





	1. ONE

**Author's Note:**

> Even though I chose not to use archive warnings, PLEASE read the additional tags. I might add as I publish chapters. This book, same as the other two, has its very gory moments and mature content is bound to happen. Please proceed with caution!

**Y/N's POV**

"Please..." my tears have all dried at this point, but my eyes are bloodshot red and my head feels like it could explode.

My father crosses his arms in front of me, looking down at me with a scowl on his face.

I wiggle my wrists a little bit to try to ease the pain of them being tied behind my back on this chair, but it only makes the pain worse.

He kneels down. "Doyun can't save you this time, Y/N. It's just you and me and I won't stop until I've gotten it out of you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," my voice comes out weak and tired. "Just kill me already. That's what you want, isn't it."

"Even if we tried to kill you right now, you wouldn't die and you know that."

Another painful tear escapes my eye moments before another shock is sent coursing through my entire body, evoking a terrible scream from the deepest parts of my throat.

When the electricity stops, I droop down into the chair. "Please, stop...I-I can't take this anymore."

He grits his teeth. "I will stand here all day if I have to until we get this thing out of you."

"What thi--AHHH!" Another string of electricity courses through my veins.

"I won't stop until it's out. I won't."

\--------------------------------------------------------

**Jeongguk's POV**

"She hasn't called yet?" Namjoon raises an eyebrow.

"That's not like her," Jin says, then looks at me. "That's not like her, right?"

"No, it isn't," I worry my bottom lip with my teeth, my arms crossed tightly over my chest as I tap my foot impatiently on the floor.

"I think you might be overreacting," Hoseok mumbles.

"I wouldn't be saying things like that if I were you," I glare at him. "I don't trust you like the rest of these morons do. If it were up to me, you'd be locked up," I spit.

Yoongi walks into the room, emotionless as always. "While my heart agrees with you, my brain tells me that he's not the enemy here, Jeongguk."

"Whatever. This isn't the point," Namjoon sighs. "She should have called by now. Her plane was supposed to take off an hour ago, which means, if she's on that plane, she's only a couple hours away."

"We should just wait it out," Jin nods.

"What if she's in trouble?" I throw my hands up. "We're just going to let that happen?"

"We don't know that she's in any trouble," Yoongi steps forward to console me. "We can't jump to conclusions. Maybe her phone died."

I shake my head. "No. Something's wrong. I can feel it."

Yoongi stays silent for a few moments before turning to look at everyone else. "I hate to say it, but I sense something's wrong, too."

I jump up to my feet once he says this, but he pushes me back into the chair.

"I'm not saying that we should rush to her. I agree that we should wait at least a couple more hours," Yoongi finishes.

I groan, dropping my head into my hands. "I'd feel much more at ease if I could just know for sure."

"Wouldn't we all," Namjoon mumbles.

I slowly look up at him. "You," I stand up. "You could use your tech knowledge or whatever and try to see where she is, right?"

Namjoon chortles. "Slow your roll. First of all, she told me never to spy on her just because you were worried. She literally said that before she left."

I roll my eyes. "More reason to look. I don't like not knowing for sure where she is."

"You could just trust her," Yoongi mumbles.

"Second of all," Namjoon continues. "Why would she be in any trouble. We killed the only other person that had something against her."

I shake my head. "Not the _only_ other person."

"Her father..." Hoseok mumbles.

I nod.

Namjoon clicks his tongue. "I have wondered why he's stayed silent this whole time."

"Okay, so don't spy on Y/N," I say. "Spy on him. Kim Sungho. Her father."

Namjoon bites his lip. "I don't know...If they caught wind of it--"

"Please, it would make me feel a lot better about this."

Namjoon sighs. "Of course. Give me ten minutes," he turns on his heel and walks out of the room.

Jin shakes his head. "I think this is a bad idea."

"I second that," Hoseok nods.

"Well, it does no harm to check up on her. If she's fine, then it's a win for everyone," I say, trying to not only reassure everyone else but also to reassure myself. I really hope my gut is wrong on this one.

\----------------------------------------------------------

**Namjoon's POV**

"He's going crazy," I mutter as I plop down into my chair, computer moniters and keyboards surrounding me.

I log into my main computer and type in coordinates to the Kim household.

"Knock, knock," Jin whispers, walking in.

I hum, acknowledging that he's there, but also trying to focus on my task.

"Why do you always keep it so dark in here?"

"Makes it more ominous, my dear," I mumble, distractedly.

"Ahhhh," he chuckles, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

I pull up the security cameras from around the area. Unfortunately, they keep their house pretty off-the-grid, so no cameras are directly on it, but there are a couple that are only around the corner from the house.

I drag a simple picture of Y/N into the system and do a full search through the cameras in that area.

"Hm, nothing pops up within the last twenty four hours," I whisper.

"Maybe their car windows are tinted, so her face wouldn't be seen if she was in one of those cars," Jin suggests.

"I honestly think Jeongguk is being paranoid," I turn to look at Jin.

Jin nods. "But I think it's good for him to be cautious. I mean, it's true that her father has been suspiciously quiet."

"What are you saying?"

"Maybe he's been waiting for Jimin to be out of the picture?" Jin shrugs.

"For what reason?" I try to wrack my brain around all the possible reasons why her father would want Jimin gone before he would attack and nothing makes sense. "They were on the same side, though."

"Or so we believed," Jin adds. "Maybe they wanted Y/N for different reasons. Jimin wanted her for...power or his equivalent of love. I think her father had alterior motives."

"He didn't appreciate her enough for her to be one of the assassins. She was just the distraction, basically a prostitute," I start. "He abused her pretty bad whenever she failed a mission. He sent his men to gang rape her. I think he _did_ want her dead."

"Okay, so if that's true, why has he been hiding?"

I shake my head. "I don't know..."

Something 'pings' on my computer, so I quickly turn around to face it. Two words pop up. 'Search failed'.

"See? Nothing to worry about," I lean back in my chair.

"How far back are you searching?"

"Twenty four hours."

Jin clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "What if they got her before that?"

"What do you want me to do? Check for the past three days?"

Jin shrugs. "Maybe a good idea."

I sigh and type it into the system. "I honestly think this is unnecessary."

Jin bites his lip. "We all know a good mob boss keeps everything pretty hidden. Even if they do have her, we probably wouldn't be able to know unless we showed up and found out for ourselves."

As sad as it is to admit, Jin's absolutely right. I don't know what Jeongguk is expecting us to find. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."


	2. TWO

**Hoseok's POV**

"This is bullshit!" I hear Jeongguk shout from the other side of the house.

I sigh, relaxing back into the bed. I'm still not fully healed, so they keep telling me to stay in bed as much as possible.

"Still feel like shit?" Yoongi mumbles from across the room, book in hand as he reads quietly.

I hum. "Could be better," I answer hesitantly. Yoongi doesn't talk to me much. Of course, I understand why. I killed his boyfriend.

"Good."

I look away, not knowing exactly how to respond.

"You could at least _try_ to defend yourself," Yoongi slaps his book shut and rolls his eyes.

I scoot myself up on the bed and look at him. "Why would I defend myself for something that was obviously wrong?"

Yoongi just stares back at me, expression unchanging.

"I regret everything that I did, you know," I add. "Tae was my friend, too."

Yoongi stands up and marches right out the door. Tears immediately come to my eyes. He's sensitive. I understand. But seeing him upset makes me upset.

I wish I had never met Jimin. Taehyung would still be alive and happy, living with Yoongi.

"Stop crying," Jin walks in, sitting on the corner of the bed.

I sniffle. "I wish I was the one..."

"Hm?" Jin hums. "The one who...what?"

"I wish I had died that day instead of Tae," I bite my lip, holding back my sobs.

—————————————————————————

**Yoongi's POV**

I walk into the kitchen and grab a bottle of water out of the fridge. I quickly open the cap and down most of the water.

"Damn," Namjoon mumbles from the other side of the counter.

I lift my middle finger up and down the rest of the water from the bottle.

"Thirsty much?"

"Long day."

Namjoon looks down at his watch. "It's only noon."

"Well, Hoseok makes the time go by slower and slower for me," I grumble.

Namjoon sighs. "Look. We all understand where you're coming from, but are you ever gonna let that go? You know as good as I do that Hoseok was under the influence of drugs same as we were before we broke out of it. It's not his fault."

"I don't need a lecture right now, Joon," I grit my teeth. "If Jin were the one he murdered, you would be the same way."

"I happen to be smarter than you, no offense."

I blink. "Offense taken."

"Whatever. I just know that it's not Hoseok's fault. It was Jimin's and we already got that revenge," Namjoon says. "Actually, Y/N did. So how about we stop getting in petty arguments with each other and spend time looking for Y/N since she's the one who was supposed to be home an hour ago."

"I'm not forgiving him," I shout at Namjoon as he walks away.

A tear comes to my eye and I quickly flick it away. I'm not letting myself cry over a stupid issue like this.

—————————————————————————

**Hoseok's POV**

A cup of orange juice is slapped onto my breakfast tray. I look up and see Yoongi standing there.

I blink up at him. "Is this poisoned or something?"

"Don't give me ideas," he mutters before walking away.

"That seems like it's going well," Jin chuckles.

I hum, taking a sip of the orange juice.

"You know, Tae always asked for orange juice first thing in the morning," Jin adds.

I look down at the cup. Life keeps choosing to haunt me with these little things over and over.

"Yoongi always got it for him."

"Are you trying to make me feel bad?"

Jin smiles. "No. I just think maybe Yoongi's showing sympathy. Also this gives you something to bond with him over."

I nod. It's not a bad idea. I do like orange juice.

————————————————————————

**Hoseok's POV**

I wake up to the sound of something crashing to the ground.

"I'm fine!!" Jeongguk shouts. He's been a mess lately. Trying to find Y/N is proving to be pretty difficult.

I groan. "Seriously? My beauty sleep..."

"You can suck it up," Yoongi says from his chair, still reading that book.

"Little Women," I mumble, reading the title of the book out loud. "You like that book?"

"Don't know. I'm in the middle of reading it," he answers, simply.

I nod, clicking my tongue. "You dyed your hair again."

Yoongi looks up from the book. "Hoseok, I'm not in the mood for your awkward attempt at apologizing."

"I wasn't going to—" I sigh, cutting myself off. "I just figured you've already heard what I have to say and you'll forgive me when you're ready. That doesn't mean I'm not sorry...But," I sit up, "I was going to ask if you could get me some...orange juice...maybe."

Yoongi's face drops for a moment, but then he stands and walks out of the room, coming back moments later with a cup of orange juice in hand.

I grab it from him and take a quick drink.

"Not scared it's poisoned this time?"

I shake my head. "You came back with it too quick."

He hums, but I continue.

"But even if it was poisoned, I wouldn't blame you. Hell, I'd drink it anyway. I deserve it," I sigh.

"Don't play that card, Hoseok," Yoongi rolls his eyes and continues reading his book.

"Sorry," I mumble.

——————————————————————-

**Yoongi's POV**

I look up from my book and sneak a glance at Hoseok. Why do I come to his room every morning? Why do I always feel the need to make sure he's okay? He doesn't deserve to be alive. In fact, I wish he had died instead of Tae.

Or maybe I don't.

What I know is that when I talk to Hoseok I can feel how sorry he is. I can sense his sincerity. I just don't want to forgive him.

I continue to stare at his sleeping face. I'm looking at a murderer right now. I'm protecting a murderer.

But deep down I know Namjoon's right. I need to try to make efforts to make him feel better. It's not doing any of us good right now.

Hoseok shifts a little in his sleep and I immediately look away, returning my attention to my book.

Soon I hear him whisper, "What's happening in the book now?"

"Amy just threw Jo's story in the fireplace," I mumble.

Silence.

"You don't know what part that is, do you?"

"I've never read it, so no," he answers.

I take a deep breath, setting the book down to look at him. "Juice?"

He tries to hide it, but I see the hint of a smile appear on his lips. "Orange, please."

And I can feel my broken heart heal just a little bit more in that moment.


	3. THREE

**Yeonjun's POV**

"This is child abuse," I mutter under my breath, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

"Noona would want you to carry on like normal," Jeongguk answers no-so-convincingly as he wipes down the counter from my spill of juice.

"But this isn't normal," I groan. "She's missing and we're not doing anything to help her!"

Jeongguk visibly stiffens and clenches his fists at his sides. I take a step back.

"Namjoon is doing his best to locate her, but we can't just go galavanting everywhere, okay?" His voice slightly raises with every word. "Look, I wish I could just go guns blazing to that douche-of-a-father's house and shoot him dead, but that's not how we do things and, unfortunately, that could do more harm than good right now. So," he takes a deep breath, "we wait."

He still doesn't sound very calm, but I decide to disregard that and move on to lighter conversations.

"Soobin's birthday is coming up," I mumble.

"Junnie," Jeongguk warns. "You know how I feel about you being out and about right now."

"But you let me go to school and it's not like there aren't dangers every day being in the family I'm in, anyway," I moan in frustration. "He's my boyfriend! I want to celebrate his birthday with him."

"Unless Soobin wants to spend his birthday in _this_ house, it's a hard _no_ ," Jeongguk answers firmly.

I groan, grab my crutches, and swing myself out the door as quickly as possible.

"What a joke," I grumble, walking to my bus stop.

"Yo, yo!" One of my friends, Beomgyu rushes over to me, slinging an arm over my shoulder. "First day of high school! You excited?"

I chuckle. "I still barely speak English. This should be a blast," I answer sarcastically.

"You're way better now than you ever were before," Beomgyu smiles. "And no worries. I'm sure your _popular_ boyfriend will take care of you."

I scowl. "I can take care of myself," I say just before one of my crutches slips out from under me, causing me to crash to the ground with a thud.

Beomgyu rolls his eyes with a chuckle. "Obviously." He offers me his hand and lifts me back onto my feet. "Have the doctors seen any improvement on your leg?"

I look down at my leg, sweatpants covering the large cast that takes up most of it. "My foot has more movement now."

Beomgyu smiles, his eyes showing true happiness for me. "That's great! And they thought your whole leg would be useless."

I roll my eyes. "Thanks, bud."

"Maybe," Beomgyu trails off, looking at the ground and kicking a rock down the sidewalk. "Maybe soon you'll be able to join dance classes again."

My mood sours and I snap. "No." My voice comes out loud and my mouth turns up into a sneer.

He shakes his head. "I didn't mean--"

"My leg won't ever heal," I hiss. "I'm not going to dance again."

Beomgyu pauses for a moment, looking up at me. Then he sighs. "Okay."

The bus pulls up in front of us, thankfully, reducing the tension. But we don't speak at all the entire trip to school.

\------------------------------------------------------------

**Yeonjun's POV**

"School keeps getting more and more intimidating," I mumble, looking down the hallway at all the tall and mean-looking seniors.

Beomgyu scoffs, patting me on the back. "Look," he points to the right of us. Down the hall, there stands Soobin, laughing and chatting it up with some of those intimidating seniors. "Looks like your _popular_ boyfriend is at it again."

A subconscious sigh leaves my mouth. Soobin was always friends with the people who didn't like me. I never liked it.

I shake my head, my eyes still on Soobin. "It's high school. A clean slate," I reply, denial obviously taking over for the moment. "Maybe this is a good thing."

"Uh, yeah, it's a good thing," Beomgyu laughs. "Because we're friends with a popular kid, that makes us popular, too, right?"

I chortle, humorlessly. "I don't think that's how that works." I'm proof of that.

Beomgyu shakes his head, chuckling. "Soobin," he shouts.

Soobin's head jerks in our direction. He smiles widely, before saying something to the guys he was talking to and bounding down the hallway towards us.

"Hey," he smiles at me, pressing a kiss to my cheek. He looks past me at Beomgyu. "Still planning to come to my party? All of the kids from dance are coming."

I smile down at the floor. He joined dance this past summer. He said it was because he wanted to make up for the fact that I can't anymore. It's a nice sentiment, but I have yet to see Soobin really dance. He says he's horrible, but I doubt it.

"For sure!" Beomgyu nods excitedly.

Soobin looks at me. "What did Jeongguk say?"

I slowly look into his eyes and he immediately gets the message and changes the subject.

"Where's Taehyun? Kai?" Soobin looks at Beomgyu.

Beomgyu shrugs.

"What's up, hoes!" Taehyun walks up to us.

"Perfect timing," Beomgyu laughs.

"I swear this place is a maze," Taehyun shakes his head, disapprovingly.

Soobin chortles, dropping his head onto my shoulder for a moment to chuckle. The cute gesture makes me blush. When he looks back up at me, I can't help but fall into a trance. He's so handsome.

"Ew, what kind of love fest did I walk into?" Hueningkai, our other friend walks up to us, sipping on a starbucks drink of some sort. I don't pay attention all that much.

Soobin leans forward, his lips brushing up against my ear. "You look really good today," he whispers, a hint of a smile on his lips.

Kai cringes. "Can you two not?" He always plays like he doesn't like the cute stuff, but I know for a fact he wishes he had someone in his life that he could do this stuff with.

"Are you free after school?" Soobin asks me quietly.

I smile cutely at him. "To do what?"

He raises an eyebrow at me. "What do you think I want to do to you?"

"I mean, if you're asking..." I trail off with a smirk.

He playfully shoves me on the shoulder. "I was going to talk to my uncle about leaving the business. I want you to be there with me."

My smirk drops right off my face. "You think that's a good idea?"

He shrugs, a frown appearing on his lips. He starts to fidget with the sleeve of my shirt. "I don't want to be alone."

"You're not," I lift his chin up with my free hand to force him to look at me and I lean forward, pressing a very soft kiss to his lips.

He seems surprised by the action and stiffens slightly. I pull away.

"Sorry. I know we're in public," I mumble.

He smiles and looks down. "You know I don't care about that. I just thought you did. I didn't expect that."

"Alright, alright," Kai wrinkles his nose in disgust. "Can we get moving. The bell's about to ring and we're standing here awkwardly in the middle of the hallway watching you two display a bunch of public affection that makes me wanna puke."

Taehyun rolls his eyes with a smile and spins Kai around by his shoulders. "We have the same first period. I'll take him away so you two can romanticize each other."

I scoff, an amused smile gracing my lips.

Beomgyu nods at me. "I'll meet you in first period." He looks at Soobin. "Bye."

I look at Soobin. There are so many things I wish I could say to him, but it doesn't feel like the right time.

Soobin smiles, bringing my hand up to his lips and kissing the back of it. "I should go, too. Unless you have something else to say."

My eyes search his, looking for some sort of affirmation that I should say it. But my brain keeps saying no.

"Junnie," he says my name hesitantly. "You okay?"

"I'm...just peachy."

Soobin chuckles. "Good. I'll see you at lunch." And he walks away, leaving me standing there with a weirdly heavy heart.


	4. FOUR

**Y/N's POV**

I feel lost to my senses and that's a pretty weird place to be in. It's like all of the outward parts of myself have gone blank and all that's left are my raw feelings. Everything is heightened, magnified to the point where it hurts.

Touch to the point of a sizzling pop between my fingers.

Hearing to the point of echoey, far-away reverb around me.

Sight to the point of a slow-motion drag between each picture change.

Smell to the point of a mind-numbing headache.

I can feel the slight breeze of the air conditioning blowing my hair around and engulfing my skin with tiny goosebumps. I can hear the loud incoherent voices of the people around me. I can see the light shining around me, coming from open windows, a single lightbulb above me, and one lamp on the far side of the room. And I can smell the hint of smoke coming from the generator that has been fueling the electrocutions that course through my body every few minutes, each one worse than the last.

Sweat is dripping down my body, sticking my clothes to my hot skin. I feel like my muscles are absolute jelly from tensing up and relaxing over and over. My body is exhausted, but my senses are working on overdrive, the adrenaline keeping me awake.

I look up at my father who is crossing his arms in front of his body, a firm dissatisfied look plastered to his face. However, he doesn't look angry anymore. He looks very deep in thought.

"Let's take a different approach, shall we?" He finally speaks, after multiple minutes of just watching me suffer.

I gulp down as much saliva as my mouth can produce right now as to make sure my throat isn't too dry to speak and I answer. "You're not going to get anywhere," I take a breath, "if you don't explain to me what exactly you want from me. You're trying," another breath, "to torture answers out of me when I don't know what you're asking."

He simply blinks. "Sit up when we're talking."

I hesitate. "I can't." I whisper.

My body is slumped down over itself to the point where I can't even look him directly in the eye.

"Sit up." He emphasizes each word slowly.

I bite my lip, slowly willing my muscles back to working condition. It doesn't work to say the least. I wince as my ab muscles ache and pinch together painfully, trying to pull me in an upright sitting position, but to no avail.

I sigh, slumping back down. If I had more tears to give, I'd be crying right now from the pain, but I just lie there, my throat constricting as I cry with dry eyes.

"I'm sorry," I mumble, keeping my voice as stable as possible.

He doesn't answer for several moments.

"If you want to kill me, just do it," I suddenly feel myself saying. "I don't have any answers for you and you obviously find joy in my suffering anyway."

Footsteps on the ground and the hovering shadow over me tell me that he is walking towards me. He kneels down to my level and grips my chin tightly between his thumb and index finger, jerking my eyes up to look at him. I hiss slightly at the sudden movement.

"If you weren't so..." he trails off, gesturing at me.

"What did I do to make you hate me so much," I mumble, feeling my self-worth withering away in his presence.

"It was meant to be this way between us from the start," he replies, dropping my chin and standing back up. "I could never be the dad you desire nor the father you needed. Your _mother_ made sure of that." He spits the last sentence out with hate.

"My mother was a kind person," I answer.

"Kind enough to take care of you, but cruel enough to whore around," he scoffs quietly. "Whatever kind mother you're thinking of is not the same one who raised you, I'll tell you that much."

"Don't try to twist my memories of her," I try my best to raise my voice, but it comes out weak. "She was the only real family I had."

"You've got that right, but she had to go and die, didn't she," he chuckles, humorlessly.

If I had more strength, I would be wringing his throat. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"If it were up to me, you would have been sent packing and left for him to figure out."

My mind spins. "Wh--" I start, but he cuts me off.

"Your mother needed protection. Protection that I gave her...with a small price, of course," he starts to explain.

"I don't know what you're insinuating."

He sighs. "She was a walking disease when I found her. She had been sleeping around with different men every night. She was completely careless and if she wasn't so goddamn beautiful, I would have left her to the streets right where I found her...but," he pauses, obviously in thought.

My world starts to flip upside down, seeing where this is headed.

"But I couldn't leave her. She told me she was pregnant, homeless, and that the father of the unborn child was after her," he continues. "He was some drug-addicted freak with a criminal record. She said he was angry and murderous."

"She was...pregnant...when you two met," I say slowly.

He hums, seeming weirdly calm for the moment. "With you. So whatever bad qualities you think you have, don't blame it on me."

An exasperated and shocked breath leaves my mouth. "You're not my biological father."

\-----------------------------------------------------------

**Jeongguk's POV**

"How's the search going?" I ask as calmly as I can manage.

Namjoon clears his throat. "Her face is nowhere to be seen around that area in the past week."

In the corner of my eye, I see Jin playing with his fingers and teetering from side to side on his feet nervously.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Don't freak out just yet, okay? We haven't tried everything. We still have other resources," Namjoon rambles.

"Spit it out."

"We also checked around Australia where she said she was supposed to be and...nothing," he answers quietly. "The last facial recognition I could find of her is outside the airport getting in a taxi."

Jin picks at his nails.

"If there's more, you better say it."

"It was the airport in Korea. She's definitely in Korea," he finishes.

My blood runs cold. "She--" I cut myself off, not knowing how to respond. "She lied to me."

Jin blinks. "Is that seriously what you're thinking about right now?"

I just nod. "Next week..."

"What about next week?" Namjoon asks.

"We were gonna start planning the wedding," I finish.

"Stop talking about her like she's gone for good. This isn't like you," Jin exclaims, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. "She's a fighter. She can handle whatever's being thrown at her. Our job is to get to her before it's not her choice anymore."

I nod, knowing he's right. "Have you...checked her credit card transactions?"

Namjoon shakes his head, a sad smile on his lips. "We'll do that next."

"Do you know the license plate numbers of Kim Sungho's cars?"

Namjoon shakes his head again. "We haven't ever investigated too far into the Kim driving situation. Never had to before."

"Well, do that," I say, exhaling loudly. I pinch the bridge of my nose, a headache starting to make my eyes hurt. "How much time do you think we have to find her before she's gone for good?"

Namjoon sighs. "I've never met Kim Sungho or had to deal with him directly. But from what I hear about him, assuming they got her pretty soon after she got to Korea, we have about a week to find her."

I nod, not wanting to argue anymore. I feel like my entire life has been washed down the drain. I have nothing to live for if Y/N isn't with me. Nothing.

We need to find her.


	5. FIVE

**Jin's POV**

Jeongguk walks out of the room, an emotionless look on his face, but his eyes say it all.

"He's losing his mind," Namjoon comments quietly, still staring off in the direction Jeongguk left in.

"I was about to say the same thing," I answer.

"I didn't want to say this in front of him, but I'm worried. Somehow, they've erased all traces of Y/N after the point where she got in that taxi," Namjoon spins around in his chair, scooting back up to his desk. "I tried to follow the taxi, but somehow the cameras glitched out and the taxi basically disappeared."

I bite my bottom lip. "We still have other things we can look at. It's not over yet," I say in an attempt at lightening the mood, but the words are hard to believe.

"I can check her credit card, but I doubt she's used it much at all if she's been kidnapped."

I nod. "Do we have a tracker on her phone?"

Namjoon's head snaps in my direction. "Jin, you absolute genius!"

"You seriously didn't think to check that first?" I try to remain serious, but the fact that we have a lead makes me excited.

Namjoon quickly types random numbers and letters into his computer that I can barely understand and waits a few moments.

"We don't track her phone, but we can trace back her calls to the relative location of where she was last," Namjoon rambles. He clicks one more button and all of her calls pop up on the screen. "The last call was between her and...Jeongguk."

"To be expected, I guess."

"And it was about three days ago," Namjoon continues. The worry in his voice makes me shiver.

"This is good, right? We found a lead."

He shakes his head. "Well, yes and no. It was three days ago. That's supposedly when she first arrived in 'Australia'," he puts air quotes around 'Australia'. "Anything could have happened by that time. But, yes, you're right. It's a lead. Just a very weak one."

"Any lead right now is a good one."

Namjoon doesn't answer. He clicks into the call and we both wait for a moment as a loading screen appears. It only takes a few seconds for something to pop up on the screen that reads, 'Location services unavailable'.

Namjoon drops back into his seat, exasperatedly. "She must not have had good connection during that call."

"Or someone sabotaged the evidence," I suggest with a shrug.

"Slim chance. Phone calls are harder to sabotage than regular evidence. Our technology should be able to break through that," Namjoon shakes his head.

"But there is a chance that that's what happened," I say. "The Kim mafia is a very powerful mafia. They have the resources to do whatever they want, essentially. If they wanted to hide this evidence, I bet they could."

"At this point, maybe the best idea is to just show up to their house and take her back."

"Would they make it that easy though?" I lean back against the wall, my arms crossed across my chest. "They can't be dumb enough to erase all the evidence, but keep her at her childhood home. They know we know where that is."

Namjoon nods. "And if we just show up there, it could end up being a trap."

"It's up to us to save her and if we all get killed then she's as good as dead," I mumble.

"Yep," Namjoon answers, solemnly. "If we don't keep a close eye on Jeongguk, he might do something like get himself caught."

"I'll have Yeonjun keep his eyes and ears open," I tell him.

"He's a child."

"A very intuitive child. One who was raised basically in the mafia. He can handle this," I nod.

"If you say so," Namjoon shrugs. "Do we know of any other places that the Kim family owns?"

I shake my head. "They keep those things hidden fairly well and their staff is loyal."

"I think I need a drink," Namjoon stands up, an annoyed look on his face.

I grab at his shoulders to stop him. He sighs and looks at me.

"We'll find her."

"You can't be sure of that and I'm not going to waste my emotions on her. If she's gone, then we'll just have to accept that."

"Don't do that," I warn him. I can see him shrinking into himself, turning back to his old ways of thinking. We did so much to help him change to be a better, more sympathetic man. This is exactly how he acted back when Jimin was still in charge. No one misses that Namjoon. "Hope is the only way we get through hard times."

Namjoon hesitates and I can tell he's having inner turmoil. He wants so badly to take the easy way out and just...not feel.

I lean forward and connect our foreheads. "I love you," I whisper, sliding my hands up to cup his face, my fingers dragging along the nape of his neck. "I love you," I repeat even quieter.

His hands slide onto my hips and he leans forward, brushing his lips across mine. "Jinnie," he mumbles, his breath mingling with mine.

I take the small push forward and press my lips firmly to his, gripping tighter to the hairs on the nape of his neck. 

I pull away. "Don't turn away from what you know is right, baby," I speak softly. "It might be hard, but we can't give up. We need to have hope."

Namjoon nods and immediately pulls me into a tight hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you. For real." He burries his face into my neck and just breathes.

We all need each other right now. I hope all of this worrying ends soon.


	6. SIX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ ALL THE TAGS BEFORE THIS CHAPTER!!

**Hoseok's POV**

Today has been one of the more painful days I've had recently. I've had a terrible migraine for the majority of the day and more and more memories are coming back to me in snippets, which just makes those headaches worse. A lot of random thoughts have been plaguing my mind and that alone has been painful enough to ruin my day.

I sling my legs over the side of my bed, throwing my blankets off my body, and try to push myself onto my feet. Almost instantly, my legs give out on me and I lose all strength to stay standing. Just before I hit the floor, a pair of arms catch me and pull me back up.

My chest is pressed tightly up against another chest. I instinctively grip at the person's biceps to steady myself, pulling myself back upright. I drag my eyes up to find Yoongi standing over me, an awkwardly uncomfortable look on his face.

I quickly try to pull away, but he jerks me back into him. "Don't. You'll just fall again," he mumbles. "Let me help you."

I hesitate to answer, but I nod and let him walk me to the bathroom. I turn around to look at him, leaning back against the sink. "I think I can handle it from here."

He hums and walks right out of the room, closing the door behind him.

He really is a good looking guy. It's not that I've never thought about feeling things for him, in fact, in the past, I did feel things for him. If Taehyung never came into the picture, I probably would have let those feelings actually come into a conversation with Yoongi, but Taehyung did. And I understand why. They just clicked. More than we ever did.

I sigh and turn around to look at myself in the mirror. 

I was always second best to everyone. My entire life. Until I met Jimin. My ex boyfriend had just dumped me when Jimin found me. Looking back, it was a pretty emotionally abusive relationship. But I was so dependent on it that, when I lost it, my heart was completely smashed to pieces. I felt worthless and alone. Jimin had found me in a dark alleyway, a dirty piece of sharp glass in my hand. I was about to slit my wrists. But he saved me, just like he "saved" everyone else.

Jimin was my number one and I thought I was his for the longest time. But his number one was his vengeance and his anger.

And then Y/N became one of my really good friends and it felt good to have another person love me. But she had Jeongguk and I was in second place again.

And now, here I am again practically alone with no one who loves me. No one trusts me and I definitely don't blame them.

I'm not worth anyone's time anyway.

_**~Flashback~** _

Jimin walks into the room, a familiar anger hidden in his eyes. He slams the door behind him and I immediately stand up in alarm.

"They all made it out alive," Jimin grits his teeth in anger, pacing the room. I take a couple steps back, stiffening in fear of what I know is about to happen. "I planned this out perfectly and they still made it out in time," he huffs. "THAT EXPLOSION SHOULD HAVE KILLED THEM ALL! EVEN THAT BRATTY YEONJUN KID!"

"J-Jimin..."

He snaps his head to look at me. "On the bed."

My heart drops to my stomach.

"Now."

I nod slowly, turning around and lying stomach first on the bed. It's awkward, but it gets it all overwith quicker.

I close my eyes as I hear him rustling around behind me, shredding clothes off his body like a maniac. His belt clatters to the floor and almost immediately he pushes into me full force, making me wince and yelp in pain, tears filling my eyes. I squeeze my eyes shut even tighter, biting my lip to the point of drawing blood. But I'd rather have something else to focus on, like that irony taste of blood than have to focus on the pain of what's happening to me right now.

My body jerks back and forth every few seconds with hard, painful thrusts. It's always dry, raw and rough.

But, I guess, I deserve it.

**_~End of flashback~_ **

My fingers reach for the handle of one of the drawers below the sink. I open it and pull out a fresh, never-used-before razor blade. 

One, long slice, maybe two, is all it would take. And red _is_ my favorite color.

No one wants me here anyway. 

I killed Taehyung.

Y/N is gone because of me.

I press the blade to my wrist. Just one slice and they can be free from me. I don't have to be their problem anymore. They can be free of me.

I bite my lip as a tear falls down my face. I'm not scared. I feel guilty. I'm disappointed in myself that I couldn't be strong enough to stand up to Jimin and that I couldn't stop myself from killing Taehyung.

Yoongi hates me. 

I slide to the floor, the blade still pressed to my wrist. Tears sting my eyes and my throat starts to constrict in sadness.

Yoongi will never forgive me. I start to dig the blade into my skin, finally drawing blood.

Suddenly, a hand is softly placed over mine; the one that's holding the razor blade. I slowly look up, tears actively falling down my face.

Yoongi stares into my eyes, a look I've never seen before covering his face. He's crying, too. Why is he crying?

He pulls the blade away from my skin and takes it from my fingers, setting it on the floor.

"Why?" He whispers.

A whimper escapes my lips. Then another. Then I'm full-on sobbing. And Yoongi pulls me into a hug.

\-------------------------------------------------------

**Hoseok's POV**

I stare at the wall across from my bed, emotionlessly. There are faint streaks of dried tears on my cheeks and Yoongi is sitting beside me on my bed, picking at his nails.

"I'm sorry," he finally whispers after multiple minutes of silence.

I look at him, surprised. "You didn't do anything wrong."

He shakes his head. "Yes, I did. I've been treating you like shit."

"I killed your boyfriend," I answer bluntly. "Your soulmate. I deserve this. I deserve to die."

"Don't," Yoongi snaps, "Don't fucking do that." He turns his body to look at me. "As much as I hate to admit it, it wasn't your fault."

More tears start to come to my eyes. "I could've...I could've done something. I could have held off longer. I should have let him kill me. I should have died instead," I ramble. "I wish I had died instead. I deserved to die. I don't want to be here anymore. I want to die," I sob.

Yoongi doesn't say anything, so eventually, I look over at him and find him crying into his lap, his knees pulled up to his chest.

"I've seen this before, you know," he starts, his voice unsteady. "In the days before my cousin killed himself, he spoke just like this and I was the one..." he starts getting choked up and he has to stop for a second. "I was the one who had to always talk him down. What good that did."

Another hot tear runs down my face. "So, just let me take that burden off your shoulders. Let me go through with it. Then you can finally live in peace without a constant reminder that the one you love is dead."

"I don't care about that, Hoseok!" Yoongi exclaims. "Don't you understand how hard it was for me when I lost him?" He starts to sob harder, his face turning red. "I c-can't lose anyone else."

"I..."

"I can't lose you, Hobi," he looks at me, tears streaming down his face. "Please," he whispers.

"No one loves me," I mumble. "You hate me."

Yoongi hesitates to answer. "I don't."

I look down at my lap. "Why can't you just let me go? I'm no good to you alive. I killed Taehyung. I know you want me dead."

Yoongi shakes his head. "Don't put words in my mouth. I am not Jimin. I don't let my sadness take over my decisions in life. You are worth more than that."

My heart skips a beat, hearing those words come out of his mouth. "I'm...worth more?"

"Yes, you are," he answers. "It's my fault that you're not happy, so let me fix it."

I blink. "How?"

"Give me a week. I can make you happy again," he suggests.

I sigh, knowing that he's taking on an impossible task.

"Even though some shitty stuff has happened in the past year, you're one of my best friends. I could never stay mad at you. Even if no one else in the world loves you," he scoots closer, "remember, always, that Min Yoongi does and will forever."

A tear slides down my cheek as I feel his fingers intertwine with mine.


	7. SEVEN

**Hoseok's POV**

"Fuck this guy," I mumble before slurping up some noodles from my bowl of ramen. A random show is on the television in my room. It's some sort of romantic comedy.

"What's going on?" Jin walks into the room.

I glance at him, then back at the tv. "The guy on this show is trying to steal someone else's girl."

"Then, yeah. Definitely fuck this guy," Jin nods. Then he squints, cringing. "Wait, no. She shouldn't _fuck_ the guy. I'm just saying definitely _fuck_ this guy--you know what, I'm gonna stop talking."

Yoongi strolls into the room, plopping down on the chair across the room where he usually sits and grabs his book, opening it up to where he last left off, completely ignoring our banter.

I refocus my attention on Jin. "How's the search coming?"

"We think we have a lead, but between you and me, Joonie is getting a bit discouraged. He's losing hope," Jin shakes his head, sadly. "They covered their tracks very well. Hacked cameras, erased phone records, the list goes on and on."

"She's definitely in Korea, though. Right?" I ask.

"Yep. We saw her get into a taxi in Korea. That's the last we saw of her," he nods.

I look down at my lap. It's my fault she even went there in the first place. I told her about Doyun being alive. It's all my fault that Y/N could be dead right now.

"Seokjin," Yoongi mutters in a warning tone, not looking up from his book.

"What? He asked."

"I think Hoseok needs to rest," Yoongi shakes his head.

"Since when did you even care," Jin smirks.

Yoongi finally looks up, locking eyes with Jin. His face shows utter annoyance. 

Jin holds his hands up in surrender. "I'm leaving," he chuckles as he walks out of the room.

"Sorry," Yoongi mumbles.

"For what?"

"He's being thoughtless," he answers, simply.

"About?" I ask.

Yoongi looks at me, a sad look on his face. He stands up, setting the book down on his chair. He scoots onto the bed beside me, our shoulders brushing slightly. I quickly scoot away from him a little bit. He looks at me again, the same sad look on his face.

He doesn't answer my question for a few extra seconds, just staring into my eyes. 

"Yoongi..." I mumble his name.

He looks away. "I know you feel like it's your fault."

My jaw clenches subconsciously. I decide not to answer because I know that he's just going to try to tell me that it's not when it really is.

"You can't think like that," he continues. "Doyun's her brother. She deserved to know the truth. In all honesty, it's her fault for running off without telling anyone. Of course, we're gonna try our best to find her and save her, but it's _not_ your fault that she's been captured. Not by long shot." His eyes are back on mine at this point.

"24 hours ago you would barely speak to me. Now you're trying to make me feel better," I speak hesitantly. "Is it because...you're scared that I might do something to harm myself?"

"Hoseok," he whispers my name in a way that makes me shiver. I quickly look down at my lap. His gaze is intense enough to make me think annoyingly wrong thoughts.

"You don't have to pretend to like me. I know you can never forgive me for what I did--"

"Stop," he cuts me off. "Seriously. I do...forgive you. I don't forgive, Jimin."

The mention of his name makes me cower and Yoongi notices it. Moments later I feel fingers swiping through my hair gently.

"What did he do to you?" He whispers, searching my face intently.

I finally look at him again. "It's in the past." I can barely focus on anything else when his fingers are massaging my scalp and making me want to purr in satisfaction.

"Obviously not," he says, pulling his fingers from my hair. "You're still scared of him."

"I'm not... _scared_...of him," I shake my head, stopping the tears that were about to spill over my cheeks. "I'm glad he's dead," I speak with ruthless honesty. I don't think I've ever spoken like that in my entire life.

Yoongi nods slowly. "Me too."

I sigh in disappointment at myself since my eyes had decided to slide down to watch Yoongi's lips as he had spoken. I quickly look back up into his eyes. 

"Y/N told me he treated you bad," he continues.

I nod. "He was a cruel person who only thought of himself and didn't care about others or their feelings. I thought he was my friend, but things changed once Y/N came into the picture. I knew he was crazy, but I didn't know that he would get like that. And when Y/N, Yeonjun, and Jeongguk left and all our memories were altered, things changed. His emotions were magnified. He was always angry and when he was angry..." My words catch in my throat and my eyes fill with tears. 

I close my eyes, trying to collect myself, but a tear slips out anyway. Yoongi instantly reaches forward and wipes the tear away, brushing his thumb across my cheek softly. I open my eyes slowly and his face is closer to mine.

My stomach flips unexpectedly and I swallow nervously. I quickly look away. What I'm feeling is wrong.

Yoongi finally pulls his hand away from my face and backs up a little. "Jimin was always an angry person, but I think we all felt indebted to him because he saved us from different horrible situations. What we didn't know was that we'd be thrown into another bad situation," he chuckles sadly.

I smile. "Yeah."

"Hobi," he speaks softly, my nickname slipping from his lips with ease.

I look at him, a smile spreading across my lips. "The last time you called me that..." my smile fades immediately, the memory of Taehyung breaching my thoughts. 

Yoongi sighs. "We can talk about him, you know. I don't want to tip-toe around it. He's gone. But I can't..." he takes a deep breath. "I can't just forget about all the beautiful times we had with him."

I nod. "The last time you called me that, you had just come out of your room. I remember seeing your clothes all wrinkled and your hair all messy. You had this goofy smile on your face and I could tell you had just gotten laid." Yoongi chuckles.

He had looked really pretty. I could never forget that day.

I shake the thought from my head. "I started making fun of you and you were shoving me around and laughing. You were happy."

He chortles. "A rare occurrence when it comes to me."

"Well, it was the after-sex glow. It happens to everyone," I laugh.

He lets out an amused breath from his nose. "If I remember right, it was actually our first time. He confessed to me."

I smile. "He was always a pretty bold guy. I envied him."

"You're bold, too," Yoongi smiles, scooting closer to me. Our knees touch, and of course my brain stutters for a moment. "Confident and funny. You actually remind me a lot of him, you know." His eyes bore intensely into mine, our faces fairly close together again. His smile falls away slowly. "A little too much sometimes," he whispers.

"I'm sorry," I whisper back in shame.

He shakes his head. "Don't be. It's a good thing."

I bite my lip as I realize his fingers have managed to make their way to my thigh. My breathing speeds up slightly and I internally chastise myself for even letting myself feel these things. I can't do that to Taehyung.

"You have a reason to be here, Hobi," he speaks softly. "We're both broken, but I believe wholeheartedly that you're going to be the person to pick up my broken pieces."

A tear slides down my face. "Why me?"

"Because you're you," Yoongi smiles. "And I'm me."

The door to my room opens and we both pull away quickly, looking towards the open door. Jeongguk blinks at us, a knowing look on his face. Not a happy one. He rolls his eyes. "Dinner is ready. Meet in the dining room. We have shit to talk about. All of us."


	8. EIGHT

**Yoongi's POV**

I've been sitting on this couch for a good ten minutes while Jeongguk has been talking and I have listened to none of it. My mind has been elsewhere. The room across the hall with the sleeping suicidal boy, to be exact.

Ever since I found him sitting on the floor of the bathroom with a razor to his wrist, milliseconds to attempting to kill himself, I haven't been able to stop thinking about him.

Yes, it may be because I'm worried about his wellbeing and safety, but there's something else to it.

Taehyung and him are so similar that it makes me do a double take sometimes. I have to literally pull myself back from saying some stupid things. I almost called him Taehyung yesterday and I definitely almost instinctively told him 'I love you' on accident a couple of times.

But it's the fact that my brain even connects the two of them that confuses me. If I'm almost saying 'I love you' to him, then maybe it's because I _do_ love him. Or maybe I'm trying to fill the hole that Taehyung left in my heart. Either option makes me feel extremely guilty.

"Are you even listening to me?" Jeongguk snaps his fingers in front o fmy eyes and I jerk my head to the side to look at him.

I blink, then say, "Not even a little bit."

"What is with this household?" He throws his hands up in defeat. "My fiance is missing and all you can think about is getting your dick wet."

"Hey," I suddenly get offended, clicking my tongue. "It's not like that. I'm literally just taking care of him. That's it. He's vulnerable right now."

"How is he vulnerable?" He asks, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "At least he's safe. We can't say that about Y/N, who, by the way, got kidnapped _because_ of that asshole."

I sigh, something inside of me stinging when he starts accusing Hoseok of these things. It makes me want to defend his honor and possibly throw a few punches, but I take a deep breath. "We can't blame him for _her_ stupidity."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," I quickly answer. "She ran off without telling anyone where she was going, without backup or reinforcements, to a place where she knows damn well that she'd be put in danger. She went even after you said you were uncomfortable with it--after we all said we were uncomfortable with it! So, that's on her. Hoseok is slowly getting his memories back and he feels horrible about the things he's done. When he saw an opportunity to possibly make it up to Y/N, he took it. End of story. Not his fault."

Jeongguk's jaw clenches and for a moment, I wonder if I'm about to receive the headache of a lifetime, but, surprisingly, he pulls back and closes his eyes. "I know."

My mind can't wrap around his words at first. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm honestly just shocked, confused...and scared," Jeongguk pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers, his tongue pressing up against the inside of his cheek. "What are we gonna do?"

I reach forward and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Jin and Namjoon are our best bet right now. You know, I'm no good with this kind of thing. The best use of me is taking care of Hobi anyway."

Jeongguk looks me dead in the eyes. "By the way, what did I walk in on yesterday?"

"...Bonding time."

He hums, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Yeah, sure. Your hand was on his thigh and you looked like you were about to start making out. I thought you hated him."

"I never hated him."

"Okay, yeah. I saw that coming," Jeongguk nods. "He's your friend. Just like I could never hate him. But it was different. You were looking at him, he was looking at you. Your _hand_...was on his _thigh_ ," he points toward Hoseok's room.

"To be honest," I start, biting my lip. "I'm kind of freaked out. Taehyung...was always super confident on the outside, you know. But then once you got to know him, he was super insecure and sad a lot of the time. Hoseok's the same exact way. Whenever I look at him, it's like...Taehyung's soul is staring back at me. They're not just similar. It's like their hearts are the same."

Jeongguk nods. "You wanna know something weird. Don't tell Hoseok I told you, but a couple years back there was a day that you decided to dye your hair the really bright mint color. When you came out of that bathroom..." Jeongguk shakes his head, chuckling. "It was like Hoseok had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. Of course, you and Taehyung were kind of...a weird not-something-something at that point and Hoseok was forced to stay pretty silent. I don't think minded. Maybe he didn't even realize it himself...but," Jeongguk trails off for a moment. "The way he looked at you. I don't know how he feels now, but he was pretty fucking in love with you a couple years ago."

My stomach drops. I don't know how I feel, hearing those words. My heart starts to beat out of my chest. "I-I..." I start, but no words come out.

Jeongguk pats me on the back. "Honestly, he may be too freaked out about the Taehyung thing right now to even be able to process his own feelings. So most likely, he's forgotten completely."

"He has been pretty upset about it," I nod. "I mean, I am, too, but he was my boyfriend."

Jeongguk clicks his tongue. "It's probably a lot for him to process. He probably thinks you hate him. Not only that, but knowing Hoseok, he's probably thinking that he subconsciously did it on purpose and he's probably feeling super guilty."

My mind is all over the place. "Do you think--"

"No," Jeongguk cuts me off. "He would never. He liked you, but he made a point to shove those feelings so deep inside that I had to look super hard to even be able to notice that he liked you. He wanted you to be happy."

I look towards Hoseok's room. "And now he feel like he's the person who made me unhappy."

Jeongguk hums. "Of course, I don't know these things for sure...and you didn't hear them from me."

"Right."


	9. NINE

**Y/N's POV**

My breath comes out heavy and labored, my whole body aching with every inhale. My wrists feel like they're on fire and my shoulder blades burn due to being tied up for multiple hours on end.

"So," I breathe out, painfully, my throat scratchy and dry. "Who _is_ my real father then?"

Sunho chuckles, without a hint of sincere happiness. More like amusement. "There's a reason why we decided to keep that information from you. It's better this way."

"You started the conversation," I remind him.

"And I'm going to end it here--"

"I should have known. You never treated me as your own. It was always Doyun who was the shiny, golden child, while I was pawned off as a sex instrument," I growl out.

Sunho's look of amusement falls from his face immediately and he scoots closer to me, leaning down to look at me eye to eye. "It was always your mother's wish to keep you safe," he grits out. "And I know you hate me for what I did to you, but while you were living in my household, you had to be treated as a child who recieved the same mafia upbringing as Doyun to prevent questions from the others around me in leadership."

I shake my head in disappointment. "You didn't want to risk your status."

"Whatever you may believe about me, I still kept you safe as your mother wished," he whispers, pulling away from me.

I blink in confusion.

"I always gave Doyun the harder, more dangerous missions," he informs me.

"You underestimated me," I hiss.

"I KEPT YOU SAFE!"

I jump slightly in shock at his tone of voice.

He sighs, pinching the bridgee of his nose. "I think you know that I'm not a good father. It was never supposed to happen this way. I was supposed to act as the father to protect her, your mother, so that when she felt safe enough, she could leave with you and never have to worry about you being in danger," he looks me dead in the eyes. "But she died and I was the one left with the legal gaurdianship."

My eyes burn with the hot sensation of tears starting to form. I already have a headache from the abuse I've recieved already and the crying will not help, so I try to pull it back. "And you didn't want me."

"Like I said, I'm not a good father. I could barely handle having Doyun, but at least he's male and I could train him up to be a soldier in my mafia," he says, slowly.

"And why can't females do that?"

He shakes his head. "I didn't say they couldn't. In fact, I know a few very strong females who work for me, but it doesn't change the fact that they are treated differently in the industry if they aren't careful," he explains. "And I had to keep you safe."

I look away from him. "How were you keeping me safe when you sent your men to gang rape me."

He sighs. "I think you know, truly, in your heart, what happened."

I look back up at him. "No," a single tear falls down my face. "I don't."

"Park Jimin happened," he spits. "At first, I was glad you had finally left so I didn't have to care for you anymore, but they I found out who you ran to."

"He..." I trail off. "He was nice at first. He gave me everything I dreamed of. He didn't underestimate what I could do. He let me take control in missions. He trained me in multiple fields. And..." I bite my lip. "I thought I found my first love."

"With Park Jimin?"

I nod. "He was the perfect man...at the time."

"And what was the moment you realised that you were wrong?"

I try my hardest to keep a straight face as the memories flood back, but tears continue to flow. "I saw how aggressive and torturous he was when he showed me what he did. I overlooked it at first. But then he found out about the slight connection between Jeongguk and I. He went crazy and he...he raped me. Right before a mission. When we got back, he acted like he didn't do it and he got the others to believe him and not me."

"He's manipulative," Sunho nods. "We can agree on that."

"And evil," I add.

"Everyone in this business is evil, Y/N," he clicks his tongue. "I heard you're the one who killed him?"

I nod. "He deserved it."

Sunho stands up from his seat. "When I found out Jimin had you, I reached out to him. We made a deal. He gets our partnership and I get you back under my roof."

My mouth opens in shock. He brokered a deal with Jimin for me.

"He wanted us to come and pick you up," he continues. "We did because I felt that that would show him that we trust him. However, it didn't work out that way. When we got there, Jimin did something to us, controlled us."

I let out a breath in realisation. "He mind-controlled you."

"I sent you out on missions that sometimes meant sex, but I would never have my men have any relationship with you, let alone rape you," he admits. "You must know that I feel horrible."

"So why am I tied up?"

He exhales sadly. "You have information we need and once we get it, you can leave freely. No further harm will be done to you."

"Then why was I being told that I had a death penalty on my head?" I exclaim.

Sunho leans against the wall. "We only recently reversed the effects of the drug. Things are different now."

Things still feel confusing in my head. "What do you need to know? What information do I have? Why can't you just ask me straightforwardly?"

Sunho pushes his tongue into the side of his cheek. "That's the problem. Your mother...stored something very valuable inside you," he says slowly, trying to figure out the words.

"I don't understand," I answer honestly.

"Your memories have always been valuable and your mother had access to some very strong equipment that this mafia keeps hidden," he explains.

I squint in confusion. "What kind of equipment."

He sighs. "Your mother somehow knew that one day someone would try to look into your memories and use them against us. So she concealed them, even from you."

"What kind of memories?" I ask, starting to freak out.

"Do you remember how your mother died?"

Upon trying to remember, my mind goes haywire, as if it's overheating and I feel my eyes burn harshly, making me wince in pain.

Sunho instantly rushes forward, grabbing my chin.

"Look at that," he whispers in awe. "Your eyes."

"What is it?" I ask.

"The proof of what your mother did," he nods in satisfaction. "Have you ever encountered this? When you try to remember her death, your eyes turn pink and go all bloodshot."

**~Flashback~**

I turn around and decide to ignore whatever was just happening. I look in the mirror and sure enough, my eyes are bloodshot and red.

Purple and pink veins are popping out all over my eyeballs and my actual eyes are pink instead of white.

"Woah," I mumble.

_a/n: if you want to re-read this part in MR. JEON, it's in chapter thirteen_

**~End of Flashback~**

"Actually, yeah. I almost forgot that that had happened," I admit. "It seemed like the least of our problems at the time."

"It might have been back then, but now...not so much," he tells me.

"What exactly is going on? Why do you need my memories so bad?" I ask.

He sighs. "If I tell you honestly, will you help us and not run away?"

I blink. "Meaning you'll untie me?"

"If you promise to cooperate and help us," he nods.

"You're just going to let me go?"

"No," he shakes his head quickly. "You will stay here without contact with your friends until this problem is figured out. Involving less people is better right now, trust me. You'd be putting them in danger."

I think about it for a second. If he's being honest with me, he's just as messed up from Jimin's craziness as I am. And, fortunately for him, my gut is telling me to trust him.

I nod. "Okay. I promise. Now, untie me and tell me why you need this information so bad."

Sunho nods towards a couple of his guys and they immediately start untying me. He looks to another one. "Get her some food and water," he snaps. He finds another person in the room. "Prepare her a room in the house and get her a fresh change of clothes."

I am pleasantly surprised by his attitude and how he's suddenly treating me.

Once my hands are untied, I rub them confortingly and pop my back a few times, while stretching.

I sigh, looking up at him. "Thank you."

He nods. "Now, this might take a while to figure out, but your cooperation would really help speed the process along."

"Okay, I need to know all the details so I can help," I urge.

He nods again. "Okay, well, it's fairly complicated."

"Don't go back to underestimating me," I snap.

He chuckles a bit. "It's your biological father," he answers. "He needs your memories because they apparantly contain the key to something detrimental to something regarding your mother and this entire mafia."

I swallow down my feelings. "Who is he?"

"This information was kept from you to keep you safe," he reiterates.

"We're not safe anyway," I shout.

He nods. "You're right. He's a man who, coincidentally, ran in the same circles as Jimin. Jimin had some weird, fetish-like vendetta against him, but he's never been able to kill him."

My mind tries to wrap itself around the information. "I'm not sure..."

Sunho purses his lips. "He's also the uncle of your son's boyfriend."

I jerk my head to look at him. "The same uncle who paid people to rape Jimin?"

"So, that's the vendetta, I guess," Sunho nods, obviously learning new information. "I haven't personally met him, but I've heard from both Jimin and Soobin that he's a real piece of work."

Sunho sighs. "That's your father and he's so close to your family that anything could happen at any time. He could decide one day to steal you and pick through your brain at his own will."

"Fuck," I mumble. "I have to warn Yeonjun...and Jeongguk."

Sunho shakes his head. "No. You can't. That will put them in even more danger. You will be dragging them into the situation, which can't happen. We just need to get this information and then get rid of that man as soon as possible."

"What's his name?" I ask.

"Park Junghoon."


	10. TEN

**Soobin's POV**

My heart has been racing all day and my stomach has felt like it could explode at any second. I'm supposed to talk to my uncle today about leaving the business, but I just know how he's going to react and it doesn't ease my conscience. At least Yeonjun will be there. That makes me feel slightly better. I trust him with my life.

Thankfully, at the end of the day, Yeonjun could sense my anxiety and held my hand the whole way home. It was a particularly quiet bus ride home, but he still could tell that I was nervous.

Stepping off the bus in front of my house made everything so much worse.

Yeonjun gives my hand a quick squeeze. "What's the plan? Do you want me to stay quiet?"

I shake my head. "Don't feel like you have to stay completely silent. You're my boyfriend and my best friend. You're allowed to speak whenever you want."

Yeonjun hesitates to answer. "Does he know about us?"

I sigh. "I think he suspects, but I haven't confirmed anything. I didn't know how he was going to react. He might have tried to convince me to break up with you because of the business."

"Do you think he'll still try to do that?"

I look at Yeonjun and shrug. "I don't know. Maybe. But he's my uncle. He has to understand that it's my choice."

\---------------------------------------------

He blinks, crossing his arms in front of his chest and glaring at me with one of the most intimidating looks on his face that I've ever seen. Choi Junghoon. The only man who has ever scared me.

"And what makes you think that this is okay?" He speaks firmly, making me wince slightly.

Yeonjun readjusts his fingers in mine, letting me know that he's still there.

"It's my choice. I don't want to be with anyone else other than Yeonjun," I quietly answer, my resolve weakening slightly. "I'm sure you have...replacements."

He takes a step forward. "You are the most requested boy I have out there. On top of that, business has been slow since our family was attacked last year. Other boys have quit as well. We are losing income quickly. You are family and I expect you to be responsible enough to maintain your position."

"He will _not_ ," Yeonjun spits.

Junghoon glances at Yeonjun. "And are you doing this out of a place of jealousy? Because that can be solved, you know."

Yeonjun's jaw twitches, clenching in anger. "I am not interested," he grits his teeth. "Soobin is expressing his disinterest in your business of _whores_ and would like out."

Junghoon laughs, finding humor in Yeonjun's anger, while I am slightly offended by his word choice.

"'Whores', hm?" He chuckles and points at Soobin. "Your boyfriend is one of those 'whores'. "

Yeonjun sighs and looks at me. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I-I know," I nod. I turn to look at my uncle again. "I am serious about wanting out of the business. I would not ask if I hadn't already made up my mind."

"You are a _child_ ," he emphasizes each word. "You do not get to make these decisions."

"If I'm a child, why did you make me a call boy in the first place," I hiss. "If I'm a child, why should I have to take responsibility for your losses? Why am I having to take care of this business at fifteen years old?"

Junghoon hums. "Fine."

I blink. "Fine?"

He nods. "You stood up for yourself. You're acting like an adult. Fine. But I still want you to contribute."

The idea makes me nausious. I know the kinds of things that our mafia does and I'm not very fond of them.

"I assume since your boyfriend is here for this conversation, he knows about our family?"

I nod slowly, trying not to trigger anything.

"Very well. How about you, boy?" He looks at Yeonjun. "Any interest in mafia work?"

It's amusing to say the least, knowing that he's already a part of a different mafia. But I step in front of him. "He's not interested."

Junghoon gives me a look that sends a chill down my spine. A knowing and incredulous look, but he doesn't say anything. He just moves on.

"Very well," he rolls his eyes. "We have drug cartell, which you've already worked with. Pornography, camera work or star. We still have income coming in from a few casinos around the area. And, finally, our bars and clubs, which contain our call boys, dancers, bartenders and the like."

I bite down on my bottom lip, feeling uncomfortable with the decision I'm feeling pressured to make. "I'm not old enough for bartending or working with gambling."

"You weren't old enough to sell yourself for money, either, but you did," Junghoon answers, nonchalantly.

The only thing that makes any sense and sounds the least illegal makes my stomach turn.

"I'm taking...dance classes," I mumble.

Junghoon looks up. "We can arrange for you to be one of our dancers in the nearest club. You wouldn't be moving around like you did as a call boy. We'd keep you strictly to one club so the people interested in your dancing could find you easily. It does require a certain wardrobe, but as long as you follow the rules you can choose your look."

The conversation still makes me feel sick.

"A dancer? For a club?" Yeonjun thinks out loud. "What club?"

"We have a few around the area. Whichever one Soobin feels most comfortable with," he speaks. "Business-wise, a dancer just got fired at one of our men's only clubs. I think you would do well there."

"Whatever, fine," I whisper, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Good," Junghoon smiles. "You learn quick."

The way Junghoon has always talked down to me has irritated me, but I've gone along with it. I know that he's not a good person and I've heard nasty rumors about him from family members. My fear of him is so deep rooted that I've forced myself to obey his rules and allow myself to be used by him. 

Maybe now, with Yeonjun by my side and the rest of the Jeon mafia, I won't feel so in danger.

I look up at Junghoon. "I only have one request."

Junghoon sighs. "What?"

"If I do this, I want some of your best investigators to help Yeonjun's family."

Yeonjun's head snaps in my direction, but I refuse to look at him.

"Someone has gone missing and I'd like you to investigate the matter," I negotiate.

Junghoon's lips turn up only slightly. "What's the name?"

"Kim Y/N."

He chortles, then clicks his tongue. "Deal."


	11. ELEVEN

**Jeongguk's POV**

"We really shouldn't be out and about right now," Namjoon mumbles, walking stiffly behind me.

I shove past a crowd of drunk girls, all of them staring after me as I pass by. I roll my eyes. "Well, I need a drink and some time away from the house that reminds me that my fiancee is missing and I have no way of reaching her without getting her and myself killed."

Namjoon huffs out a sigh. "Well, we could have at least gone to a gay bar or something."

I scoff. "It's either you or me being disappointed with the bar choice and who's feelings are more important right now? Oh, yeah. Mine. So piss off."

Namjoon chuckles as we take a seat at the bar. "At least, Jin has nothing to worry about."

"Are you suggesting that Y/N does?" I wave at the bartender, getting his attention. "I don't even care what you get me at this point."

Namjoon laughs. "Water for me, please."

"Aren't you no fun."

"Someone has to drive. I can tell it isn't going to be you," Namjoon replies.

I sigh. "I feel like my life has gone to complete shit, Joon." I run my fingers through my hair in exasperation. "Y/N's missing, Yeonjun is restless and moody, and I'm still here having to pick up the pieces after Jimin and Taehyung died. I can't do this! Y/N was meant to be the leader. Not me. I'm not built for leadership. I always was weak under pressure."

"Gguk, things are hard. Life is complicated. We are having to deal with a maf--"

The bartender sets our drinks in front of us, cutting Namjoon off completely. As soon as he walks away, he continues.

"Mafia. Our life is as complicated as it gets. Yes, Jimin died. Good riddance. Yes, Taehyung died. It's hard. But we have to get used to the fact that people are going to die around us. We have to learn how to deal with it."

I sigh, taking a long swig of my unknown alcoholic drink.

"Look," Namjoon sighs. "Lately, I've been close to relapsing."

My eyes snap to his. "Drugs?"

Namjoon hums. "Jin's been helping me out a lot, but I've been having panic and anxiety attacks. I've really been struggling."

"I didn't know...I've probably been making it worse."

"No--I mean, yeah, you have, but I understand why you're acting the way you are," Namjoon laughs. "Shit is wild right now. I wanna bet that Y/N is perfectly fine and handling herself."

I take a deep breath. "I still want to find her..."

"I know," he nods. "And we will. I'm sure of it."

\----------------------------------------

**Y/N's POV**

I walk through the house. It's not my childhood home. They apparently transported us somewhere different. Somewhere I had never seen before. Explains why Jeongguk hasn't crashed in, guns blazing. They probably can't find me.

I sigh, realizing how worried he probably is.

Sungho has allowed me to familiarize myself with the house. I've been walking around for at least an hour now, just checking out each room. I get to the library and a small smile creeps onto my lips.

I immediately look through the first bookshelf I see. Yoongi would have been in heaven. He loves to read.

Yoongi. I bet he's struggling a lot right now with Taehyung's passing. I wonder how he's dealing with it. I hope he isn't taking it out on Hoseok.

Hoseok. I smile sadly. He's been through so much. I wish I could be there for him right now. It's horrible to think that he might not have many people who care for him right now. I know Jeongguk didn't care much for him when I left.

Jeongguk and I would have been planning our wedding right now. I grit my teeth. Why was I so stupid. I got myself captured and for what? Now I've put myself in an even more dangerous situation than I would have been if I hadn't have left.

"Hey," someone calls from somewhere behind me, startling me.

I spin around to find a man looking at me with curious eyes. "You're...Sungho's daughter?"

I open my mouth to answer, but I find that I don't know what to say. What does everyone here know? How much has he told them?

"I guess," I mumble. 

"Y/N, right?" He asks.

"Yeah," I answer.

He smiles widely. "He was telling us so much about you. He told us that you killed Park Jimin. Oh, man! That must have been wild! You're ruthless. I gotta say, I'm a huge fan! I want to learn everything from you."

My eyes widen. "How much did he tell you about me?"

"He wouldn't stop gushing about you! You're, like, his biggest accomplishment. He's so proud of you," the boy steps forward, reaching his hand toward me. "I'm Taemin."

I smile, taking his hand and shaking it. He doesn't seem dangerous or threatening at all. He's really sweet. "Well, you already know my name."

"Boy, do I!" He laughs. "You're one of the coolest mafia bosses ever!"

I blink. "How do you know I'm a mafia boss?"

"You're the boss for the Jeon mafia, right? Sungho mentioned that, too."

I sigh. "Well, nothing gets past him. Yeah, I'm the boss. We don't really like to give out that information, though--"

"Oh, don't worry. We are under strict orders to never breathe a word of anything regarding you or the Jeon mafia to anyone," he nods. "Sungho runs a pretty tight ship here."

I nod. "I'm aware."

He shakes his head. "I've always wanted to ask you how you were able to shake the effects of Jimin's mind control drug. I mean, wow! That's a talent! You must be really strong!"

I shake my head and shrug. "It must have been something Jimin wanted to happen."

"We never knew Jimin was the boss of the Jeon mafia, but we knew to fear the Jeon mafia boss. He is--was--relentless and evil. He wouldn't have just let you walk away with those memories. Sungho thinks something probably went wrong," Taemin explains. "It's something about your brain. It must work differently."

"Differently?" I chuckle. "What does that mean?"

Taemin shrugs. "It's your brain. I'm just saying, from what I know, Jimin wanted you as his second in command. He wouldn't have planned something like that. Everything that came after you left must have been a plan B for him."

Even though I had been told by Jimin that it was all his plan, for some reason my gut tells me that Taemin is right. Something must have gone wrong.

First, Sungho tells me something is hidden inside my brain and now Taemin is saying something is different about my brain. It all lines up. Something went wrong. My brain must have been fighting back. But why? What's hidden in there and why are some people so interested in it?


	12. TWELVE

**Yeonjun's POV**

It's hard when someone you care about is going through shit that you can't truly understand or sympathize with. It's even worse when that shit is disgusting, dangerous, or deadly and this club thing with Soobin checks all those boxes.

I was under the impression that Soobin's playboy life was over, but instead, he's being forced to transition to a different part of that life. Even though at first, Soobin didn't like the idea of leaving his uncle's business, I honestly think that I had finally gotten him to feel safer in my arms. I had finally gotten him to feel less used and more loved. But here we are, about to go into this club where Soobin is going to be forced to dance for profit.

"I'll still have time for dance classes and school," Soobin speaks as he faces the mirror, buttoning up his shirt. I stand in the opposite corner of the room with my arms crossed, leaning against the wall. "Junghoon made a promise to me. He doesn't make promises easily. I trust him to keep it."

"I don't," I mumble softly.

Soobin turns around to look at me. "Junnie," he whispers. "I did this for you. For Y/N and Jeongguk. For your family."

I bite my lip. "Are you expecting a 'thank you'?"

Soobin takes a step back, scoffing. "No, I'm expecting you to understand." Soobin buttons the last button. "You obviously don't."

I shake my head, running my fingers exasperatedly through my hair. "We had it covered already. Who knows what kind of past Junghoon could have had with the Jeon mafia! Y/N's disappearance was supposed to stay a secret. Especially from other mafia men!"

"I was just trying to help!" Soobin exclaims.

"Your help could have endangered Y/N!" I grit my teeth, feeling my anger surging through the roof. "She didn't need your help. Our mafia didn't need your help. And I sure didn't need your help!"

Soobin turns back around, looking away from me. I see Soobin's face in the mirror, tears starting to fall down his face.

I sigh. "Let me explain this to you. Jimin _exploded_ your house with Junghoon inside, intending to _kill_ him. Jimin obviously has history with your uncle, meaning the Jeons have history with your uncle, meaning Junghoon probably doesn't like us very much, _meaning_ ," I take a deep breath, realizing I'm raising my voice, "Y/N is not safe with Junghoon looking for her. She's better off with her lunatic of a father."

Soobin clicks his tongue. "I'm sorry."

"Y/N is like my mother," I whisper, tears settling in my eyes. "If she dies by the hand of Junghoon, I'm holding you personally responsible."

With that, I storm out of the room, leaving Soobin to walk to the club by himself.

\--------------------------------------

**Y/N's POV**

I walk into the room they had set up for me and sit on the edge of the bed. It's a cute little space with a closet in the corner, most likely holding some clothes, and a desk in the other corner, a hairbrush sitting on top. 

I smile, taking a deep breath. Everything has changed since the last time I was living in the same place as Sungho. Things were a lot more volatile and aggressive, not that it didn't start that way this time either, but now it's peaceful. I hate to even think it, but it feels nice. It's what I always dreamed my relationship with my father would be like. 

I notice to my left is a window. I stand and walk over to it, looking outside at all the beautiful plants and trees residing in the garden, birds chirping while perched on the birdfeeders, and butterflies fluttering their wings on all the nearby flowers.

A knock comes to my door and I spin around to find Taemin. I sigh in a sort of relief, settling myself down from the original fear. "Taemin, is everything alright?"

He smiles. "I was told to collect you. Your father wants a meeting with you."

I raise an eyebrow. "A meeting? But we only just parted an hour ago. A shower is sounding magnificent right about now."

Taemin's sharp intake of breath lets me know I've shared too much. "Sorry! Too much information. Um, can you tell Sungho that I'll be down after I...finish some things?"

He nods. "The meeting room," he informs me before walking away.

I bite my lip. The more peaceful it becomes around here, the more I miss Jeongguk. I hate the thought of him being in pain, while I'm here, getting back to normal. 

Even taking a shower, as dumb as it sounds, wasn't the same without Jeongguk. I had gotten so used to him being around that now that he's not here, I don't know how to properly function. It felt awkward to stand under the showerhead, without him constantly rubbing at my shoulders or giving soft pecks to my hair. It felt entirely too lonely.

I dry my hair and get dressed quickly, not enjoying the fact that there is no lock on my bedroom door, and then I head down to the meeting room.

"It takes forty-five minutes to finish whatever you were doing?" Sungho crosses his arms.

"I needed a shower," I mumble. "I was sweaty and gross from earlier."

Sungho clears his throat. "Anyway, back to business. I found out some interesting information earlier."

I raise my eyebrows in curiosity.

"Your brother, Doyun."

Instantly my eyes widen and I step forward, intrigued.

"Calm down. All I want to know is why you thought he was dead all this time," Sungho clarifies.

I scoff. "What other reason? Jimin."

He nods. "How do you remember him dying?"

I click my tongue, the memory still vivid in my brain. "Jimin stabbed him. He died pretty quickly. It was right before Jimin had knocked us all out with the drug. I remember it clear as day. My throat hurt from screaming so much. Everyone else saw it, too. The only reason I know now that he isn't dead was Hoseok told me after he broke free from Jimin's compulsion. He was the only one other than Jimin who knew."

Sungho nods, crossing the room with his arms folded in front of his chest. "Well, he is very much alive. All this time, he was still working for me. As I said, we were all still under Jimin's influence until recently. Doyun left as soon as he broke free...to find you."

I shake my head in confusion, chuckling. "You let him do that?"

Sungho rolls his eyes. "I'm not as heartless as you once thought. Whether you're related to him by blood or not, he will always see you as his sister. You will always have that bond."

I bite my lip, tears suddenly threatening to fall down my face. "You know he was the one to save me from your men after they raped me. He helped me save Yeonjun. He tried to get me out of Jimin's clutches even before we knew anything was wrong with him. He knew."

Sungho sits down in the chair nearest to him. "He was always a good brother to you," he nods.

"The best I could have ever hoped for." A tear slips down my face, but I quickly wipe it away.

Sungho nods again. "Well, then, you'll be pleased to know that he has come back."

"H-he's here?"

Sungho's lips turn up into an impossible smile as he looks down at the floor. "As if we could keep him away from you."

My hand comes up to cover my mouth in shock.

"Y/N..."

My eyes widen as I turn around, finding Doyun standing there alive as ever.

"Oh my god!" I rush forward, throwing my arms around him.

He hugs me back hard, resting his head atop mine. "I'm sorry it took so long to get back to you. It was all Jimin. And when I finally broke free from that I ran to where the apartment the Jeons were in, but no one was there and so I went to America and couldn't locate you. That's when I got word from father saying you were with him so I went to the house and of course, you weren't there so-"

Doyun continues to ramble on and on, making me start to sob against his chest. 

When he finally stops speaking, he pulls away from the hug. "You look older," he smiles.

I wipe my tears. "I've taken on the guardianship of a boy, so I've had to mature a bit."

He suddenly gasps. "I heard you got engaged!"

I smile. "Yeah, we were in the process of planning the wedding."

He sighs, contentedly. "It's good to see you, peanut."

I bite my lip, pulling him back into a hug. "You better not disappear on me again."

He kisses the top of my head. "Never."


	13. THIRTEEN

**Jin's POV**

Namjoon had been acting weird for the past couple of days. When I confronted him about it, he told me that it was just all of this Y/N stuff and that the search was getting to him. But I know, deep down, what this is really about. He's relapsed and he thinks he can hide it from me.

Wrong.

I know him when he's going through withdrawal. I know him when he's high. I know him when he's hiding drugs under his pillow.

I've known him too long for him to be able to hide this from me.

_~Flashback~_

"Hoseok, Jin," Jimin nods to each of us. "This is the newest member of our team. Namjoon. Treat him nicely."

I glance over at the new guy and see the most handsome man I have ever laid eyes on. He has a stone-cold face. He must have gone through some shit. Not surprised. With Jimin's choice of mafia members.

Jimin sighs. "I have my eye on a few more people who might fit in well with our group. Hoseok," he looks at Hobi next to me. "See to it that they are kept safe until I find the right time to acquire them."

Hoseok nods and Jimin leaves the room, walking straight to his own.

I smile and reach a hand out towards Namjoon. "Hey, I'm Seokjin."

Namjoon purses his lips before slowly shaking my hand. "Namjoon."

Hoseok chuckles. "And I'm Hoseok, but you can call me Hobi."

Namjoon nods, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets, the cold look on his face unwavering.

"Well, I have work to do...as usual," Hoseok sighs. "I'm sure Jin will take care of you for the time being. He's good at that."

I roll my eyes, shoving Hoseok playfully. "He just means I'm good at being hospitable, I guess."

"Is that your job around here?" Namjoon spits out, taking me by surprise.

"Job..." I mumble, slightly confused.

"I just mean, that's your role here. Like the host of the household. The help."

My mouth opens then closes, not sure of how to answer.

Namjoon scoffs. "So, where's my room?"

I blink in disbelief. This man really is a piece of work. "U-uh, it's...follow me."

I start to lead him down the long hallway of bedrooms and bathrooms, but I can't help but feel uneasy with him following behind me. There's something weird about his presence. He's lifeless and completely emotionless.

"So, what do you do then?" I decide to ask, leaning against the doorway of his new room as he steps inside to check out the area.

"Not sure yet. Just got here, remember?" He chuckles.

I squint in confusion. "He must have seen something in you or you wouldn't be here." Namjoon doesn't respond. Instead, he just opens his closet and glances inside, completely ignoring me. "Must be something broody and dark since that's the vibe I'm getting from you."

He finally looks back at me. I fold my arms in front of my chest and raise an eyebrow.

"Broody and dark?" He smiles, amused.

I look down and chuckle, realizing how amusing that does sound. "Don't blame me. All you've given me are rude comments and emotionless glares. You seem unpredictable and scary."

He takes a few steps toward me. "So you're scared of me, then?"

I shake my head, my lips turning up into a smile. "I didn't say that. It's just a vibe you give off." Namjoon nods, not taking his eyes off me now. "I don't scare easily anymore. It's a useless emotion."

His face softens all at once, his lips only slightly turning up into a smile as he looks down then back up at me. "That's where we agree. It's no way to spend your life."

I take a step toward him this time. "You also give off a vibe that I know all too well around here."

Namjoon raises an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"Look, we're on the same side here. You've had it rough. So have I. So have Hoseok and Jimin. This mafia is packed full of enough sick pasts to last a lifetime," I speak with as much confidence as I can muster up. "So, cool it with the rude comments and the glares. It's not appreciated or necessary."

Namjoon hesitates before taking a step back. He looks at me in a way that I'd never seen before. He was searching my eyes for something. Sincerity maybe?

"What rough past haunts you?" He asks.

I shake my head. "You'll need to get some vodka in me to hear that story."

He smiles. "Well, if we're on the same side..."

I squint my eyes at him, pursing my lips in thought. "All you need to know is that I've had enough toxic masculinity to last a lifetime. So if you're gonna be that way, let me know now so I can stay away from you."

He clicks his tongue. "No need to worry about me, sweetheart," he answers nonchalantly. "We both desire the same thing."

I scoff. "And what's that?"

He shakes his head. "Am I not transparent enough for you?"

I shrug, rolling my eyes. "Enlighten me."

"I'm gay, Seokjin. Don't worry about the rude comments. I'll keep them to a minimum. But I don't know what you're talking about with the glaring," he smirks. "If anything, I was checking you out."

I mouth drops open as I try to speak, but nothing comes out.

He laughs. "Sorry. I can be pretty forward." 

I clear my throat. "Am I that flamboyant?"

He smiles. "I wasn't sure, but now I am. You don't have to worry. I won't come on to you if you don't want me to." He takes a deep breath, looking around the room again. "And as for rough pasts, I was raped...by my brother who also forced me to do drugs."

It's as if my lungs are ripped from my chest. I didn't expect him to blurt it out like that.

"Yes, I'm dealing with it. No, I'm not exactly stable yet. And I don't need sympathy or pity," he spits.

I bite my lip. "I'm sure you don't need sympathy, but...I guess I can sympathize with that."

He looks up at me.

"I wasn't addicted to drugs or raped, but my parents forced me to marry this horrible woman because they were convinced I couldn't live on my own. They were ashamed of me for being so...colorful," I look down as tears come to my eyes. I try to shake them, but it's useless at this point. They start to fall down my cheek, but I keep my head down, trying to hide them from Namjoon. "She was angry and mean. She didn't like how innocent I was. How sweet and...little I was. So she beat me. She would beat me until I wasn't conscious anymore." I can't hold back my sniffles anymore, finally alerting Namjoon. "It lasted a while."

"That's horrible," Namjoon whispers. "I don't know why people are so stuck in the ways of the past." He steps forward and lifts my chin up. I look him in the eyes, tears still flowing down my cheeks as I silently cry. "You are not useless or weak. I can see that in the way you just talked to me. Your parents didn't understand what they had."

I raise an eyebrow, my tears finally slowing down.

"They had a strong, caring, _beautiful_ man who they didn't deserve as their son."

"You barely know me," I whisper, unable to look away from his beautiful chocolate brown orbs.

"I know enough." 

He leans forward pressing his lips to mine. The kiss takes me completely by surprise, but I relax into it quickly. It's only a peck, but it's sweet and it leaves my heart racing.

He pulls away and my eyes flutter open. "I didn't expect...you to do that."

He smiles, dropping his hand from my chin. "I don't have a future now that I've sold my soul to be in a mafia," he chuckles. "Might as well take advantage of what I have right here, right now."

I smile and look down at my feet.

"Just promise me something," he mumbles.

I nod.

"Keep those drugs that I know you store somewhere in this house away from me," he whispers into my ear, turning around and walking back to his closet.

_~End of Flashback~_

I made him a promise and I intend to keep that promise even if it means he hates me for making him go through the pain of withdrawal again.


	14. FOURTEEN

**Soobin's POV**

I walk into the club practically shaking with fear. I can feel bile ready to come up my throat at any moment. Why did I agree to this? Where is Yeonjun when I need him? Oh, that's right. He's off god knows where being angry at me for reasons that I couldn't have controlled.

"This is your room," Junghoon mumbles, looking down at his phone as he pushes the dressing room door open.

"Hi!" A loud voice calls as soon as the door is propped all the way against the wall.

My eyes find another boy about my age standing there. "Hey," I mumble back. 

"You're Soobin. His nephew. Nice to meet ya," he shakes my hand quickly. "I'm Damien."

I click my tongue. "You...work here?"

He barks out a laugh. "God no!" He then finds my eyes, seeing that I'm not amused and clears his throat. "I'm here for moral support, I suppose."

"Moral support? You got a friend in need somewhere?" I take a quick look around. "You should go to them then." The sarcasm drips from my voice venomously, spitting at the boy a bit more viciously than I probably should have.

"Well, you definitely have the Park spirit. I'll give you that."

My eyes snap back up to him. "Park? I'm a Choi. I don't...know what you're talking about."

Damien's mouth opens for a moment, an almost silent breath of realization escaping it before he finally speaks. "Right," he nods, pursing his lips awkwardly. "Sorry."

He tries to walk past me, but I grab at his arm and pull him back. "Nope. You can't get out of it that easy," I shake my head. "What do you mean 'Park'?"

Damien rubs at his arm where I was just holding it. "What a firm grip you got there," he laughs nervously.

I roll my eyes. "Stop evading the question."

"Why does the name offend you so much?" He raises an eyebrow, smirking knowingly. "Hm? Do you...know someone by that surname?"

"Park is a common surname," I mumble, but I know the truth. When it comes to mafias, a bunch can be intermingled. What are the chances...

Damien tilts his head. "Are you sure about that? Looks like your brain is doing some hard thinking there."

"Just tell me what you know, asswipe," I roll my eyes once again.

"Or what?" He provokes.

"Look, douche-canoe. You don't know what kind of things I am willing to do to get the information I want," I cross my arms in front of my chest. "Spill it."

He laughs. "I'm just kidding anyway. I'm here as a friend. Just wanted to see how you would react."

I blink, giving him an emotionless stare, waiting for him to continue.

"Your uncle there, Junghoon, is a Park, which means you're a Park by family connection and, ultimately, by blood," he shrugs. "That's all I meant. But it is interesting that you're so frazzled by the name Park."

I squint at him. "You're not telling me something."

Damien shrugs. "Whatever the case, you have work to do." He starts to walk away and I quickly grab him by the back of his leather jacket, dragging him back and slamming his chest against the wall. I grab his arm and pin it back against his back and start to twist. He cries out in pain. "What the hell, man?"

"I'm gonna give you to the count of three to tell me what you're hiding before I break your arm," I click my tongue. "1-"

"Soobin, I'm telling you all I know," he shouts, panic filling his voice.

I chuckle. "Whatever the case," I repeat his own words to him, "you better tell me _something_ or your arm is caput. 2-"

"Park Jimin, Park Jimin!" He yells out. My grip loosens slightly.

"What about Park Jimin?" My head is spinning at this point. I refuse to believe what I'm hearing.

Damien lets out an audible sigh of relief. "Your uncle is Park Jimin's uncle, too. They had some sort of rivalry. Junghoon has warned everyone in his business about him."

"Park Jimin is dead."

Damien tilts his head enough to look at Soobin straight in the eyes. "What did you say?"

"Jimin is dead," I repeat, enunciating each word clearly.

Damien lets out a soft chuckle. "Your uncle is gonna have a ball with that information."

"You're telling me he didn't know that shit?"

"Nope. He's been after Jimin for years now. Well, they've been after each other," he shakes his head.

I let his arm drop from my grasp and back away. Damien hisses and pushes off from the wall. 

"You seriously have a grip on you."

"Well, when you're in a mafia you pick up a few things," I mutter.

"Wait," Damien shakes his head. "You're in a mafia?"

"How do you think I'm even working here, idiot?" I roll my eyes.

"Family connections?" He whispers. "Hold on. You're telling me that you are in a mafia. I'd bet you know Park Jimin pretty well then."

"I wasn't in the Jeon mafia when Jimin was the boss, but I did meet him before he died," I nod. "He was horrible. Ruthless and dangerous."

"He's a legend!" Damien gasps. "Were you the one who killed him? I can't imagine you killing your own cousin," he shakes his head.

Cousin. Fucking cousin. The thought makes me gag. 

My eyes go wide as I realize something all of a sudden. "Damien, how much do you know of Junghoon's dealings with the Jeon mafia?"

He shakes his head. "Soobin, I didn't even know _you_ were in a mafia, let alone him."

"But he's related to Jimin," I mumble. "So he must know something about the Jeons."

Damien hesitates to answer. "I heard him talking once. That's how I knew about Park Jimin. He was the one talking about him. He also mentioned something about the Jeons."

My hands clench at my side before reaching up and yanking angrily at my own hair. "Fuck!" I punch the wall in anger.

"Hey, chill," Damien whispers. "You're gonna alert the people in the club."

I look at him. "Damien, whether you meant to or not, you just chose my side over my uncle's."

His jaw drops. "N-no, look, Soobin. I'm not getting involved in whatever mafia shit you're into."

"You already have," I grab his arm. "Let's go. You need to meet someone."

I start dragging him out the door. Fuck this club. There are bigger problems to solve right now.


	15. FIFTEEN

**Yeonjun's POV**

"And you thought it was a good idea to bring him here?" I shout, internally freaking out quite a bit.

"I trust him," Soobin shrugs.

"A terrible decision, really," the guy comments.

My nostrils flare as I glance back at Soobin, panicked.

"It'll be fine, Junnie. He has information we need and he knows about the Jeon mafia now anyway. Might as well bring him in."

Soobin is acting like this isn't a huge risk. "Now that we know what Junghoon's business with the Jeons was, you thought it was a good idea to bring someone that he knows straight to our place of safety? Really? _That_ was your best move?"

"Yeonjun, chill," Jeongguk's voice booms from behind me. He walks into the room and my mouth snaps shut. "You're Damien."

"Y-yeah," he takes the hand Jeongguk had already shoved in his face to shake. "Nice to meet you."

"Now, tell us what you know about Junghoon's past with the Jeons."

Soobin leans back against the couch.

"All I know is that Junghoon seems really intent on finding you guys. I think it has to do with his rivalry with Jimin. They have hated each other for _years_ ," he explains. "I don't know why."

"Oh, I do," Jeongguk chuckles humourlessly. "Junghoon raped Jimin when he was a child and then paid multiple others to rape him. Not saying I feel bad for the guy, but at least he has a reason behind the hatred."

Soobin's head snaps to look at Jeongguk upon hearing this. "He...raped Jimin?"

"Yep," Jeongguk sighs. "Fucked him up pretty bad, I'd say."

"Made him a psychopath," I mumble.

Soobin glances at me sadly. "So...that's the motive then, which means, Y/N isn't in any danger, right?"

Yeonjun shakes his head. "If he knows Jimin well, he knows of the Jeons. He's probably kept a close eye on us. Knows the inner workings and every person involved, including Y/N."

"But if Jimin's dead then why would he have anything against the rest of us?" Soobin asks.

"Yeonjun told me you asked Junghoon to locate Y/N? You told him about her disappearance?" Jeongguk inquires.

Soobin sighs with a nod. "Yeah. That's my mistake. I take full responsibility."

Jeongguk puts a hand up to stop him. "I understand what you were trying to do and I respect it. But you have to be more careful. Now we know that he has connections to the Jeons. We don't know what kind of connections he might have to Y/N."

"Junghoon is very secretive about his private life," Damien speaks up. "But I do know there's someone he speaks a lot about. He's searching for them."

"Is it Y/N?" Jeongguk asks.

"I've never heard him use a name, but he says she stole something that was rightfully his," Damien shrugs. "He seems like he's very intent on getting whatever it is back. He won't stop until he finds her."

"Her? You know it's a female?"

Damien nods. "He uses female pronouns when talking about her. He doesn't seem very fond of her."

"Or maybe that's just his way of love," I mutter under my breath.

Soobin shrugs, subtly agreeing with me.

"So we have a motive for Jimin to hate Junghoon, but why was Junghoon always after Jimin?" Jeongguk asks. "It doesn't make sense. If a psychopathic nephew I wronged a long time ago was after me, I would be running away, not running towards it."

"You're saying, what?" Soobin crosses his arms. "Junghoon was looking for something from Jimin?"

"I don't know. That's a bit of stretch. It's the Park family we're talking about," I comment. "They're all psycopaths."

"That's true," Damien nods. "His ex-wife was a crazy bitch, too."

"Ex-wife?" Soobin shakes his head. "My aunt died when I was a baby. You wouldn't have known her."

Damien chuckles. "That bitch is still alive. She lives in one of the apartment complexes near one of the clubs he owns. He has leverage against her to keep her nearby."

"Why would he want his ex-wife to stay if they hate each other?" Jeongguk asks.

"I'm sure he has his reasons," Damien shrugs. "Here," he grabs his phone from his back pocket, tapping on it for a few seconds. He turns the screen toward us. "This is her. Maybe you'll recognize her."

My eyes widen and I snatch the phone from him. "Th-this is...Junghoon's ex-wife?"

Damien blinks. "Yeah. One of them, anyway. They were married for fifteen years. He was pretty abusive. They had a few children throughout the years."

"Do you know," I take a deep breath, "any of their children?"

Damien shakes his head. "They were never great parents. Junghoon also kept his home life pretty private. As far as I know, he never really took care of any of the children."

I look into the woman's eyes through the pixeled screen and it's all too familiar.

"Yeonjun, what is it?" Jeongguk asks.

I click my tongue against the roof of my mouth, holding back tears. "This is my mother."

\-----------------------------------

**Y/N's POV**

"I found some information regarding Junghoon. Looks like you have a few siblings hidden around the world," Sungho leans back against his chair.

"Not surprised. Seems like he likes to fuck all consenting or non-consenting things," I groan. "Why is this important?"

"Any of them could know something about what your mother hid inside your mind and how to get it out," Sungho explains.

"But are any of them my actual siblings? Or are they from Junghoon's other tramps?"

Sungho chuckles. "Unfortunately, that is the issue. We're sure that your mother only had one child. You. So these children would have been from other women. But all of them have Junghoon's DNA."

"How many are there?" I ask.

"Three," he replies. "I think you'll be quite surprised to find out that your boy Yeonjun has his blood."

My eyes go wide. "You've gotten something mixed up. There's no way."

"We've looked into their past. Looks like Yeonjun ran away from home when he wasn't even a teenager yet. His father raped him, his mother was a deadbeat who didn't care much," Sungho sighs. "The facts check out, Y/N."

I droop back into my chair. "So, that would mean..."

"Yeonjun is your half-brother."


	16. SIXTEEN

**Yeonjun's POV**

"So, this is the place," I ask softly, all the memories from my younger years flooding back. The building I used to live in is only a block away from here. The same building I almost killed myself on, where I found Jeongguk.

Jeongguk has the same look I have right now. When he looks down at me and we lock eyes, I realize just how hard this is going to be. This place just happens to be both of our emotional triggers.

"I don't know why I have to be here for this," Damien mumbles. "This could completely ruin my relationship with Junghoon."

I roll my eyes. "Only if he finds out."

"This is his ex-wife!"

"Who hates him," I remind him. "I think you're secret is safe."

"As long as you've been telling us the truth about her," Soobin adds.

I glance over at Soobin, giving him a small nod. 

Every bone in my body wants to forgive him, but it hurts. Every time I look at him, I imagine Y/N being shot or tortured or stabbed to death. I want to forgive him so fucking bad, but I feel like I'd be betraying Y/N.

I look away from him and walk towards the door. My hand pauses just before knocking. "I don't think I can do this."

"I can do it," Soobin mumbles, stepping forward and grabbing my shoulder. He softly nudges me out of the way and knocks on the door.

It only takes a few moments for a woman to open the door. Her eyes suddenly go wide as she tries to shut the door on us. Jeongguk stops it with his foot.

"Lee Eunae?" She doesn't answer. "We're not here to hurt you or anything," he explains. "We just have some questions about Junghoon."

She slowly reopens the door. "I doubt I have any answers for you. He doesn't really tell me anything."

"I'm sure you know more than us, though," Jeongguk raises an eyebrow.

She hesitates for a moment, but slowly her eyes move over to me. "Yeonjun..."

I click my tongue, looking to the ground. "Mother."

"I will only let you in because I would like to catch up with my son," she speaks firmly. "Whatever information you think you need, I don't have for you."

Soobin takes a step forward. "I think answering our questions would be beneficial for you, as well."

She raises an eyebrow. "How so?"

"I've come to understand that he has forced you to stay near him all these years, even after the divorce." She nods, so Soobin continues. "And I'm sure you'd like to be free from that."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Park Jimin's last dying wish was for Junghoon to be killed. If you answer our questions, we might just make that happen," Soobin crosses his arms, a stern look on his face.

She narrows her eyes at Soobin, then glances around at the rest of us. She takes a deep breath then opens the door wider for us. "Come on in."

\------------------------------------

"Junghoon would disappear for weeks at a time," she sighs. "When you were a baby," she looks at me, "he would only come home if his work demanded it or if I specifically blackmailed him into it."

I raise an eyebrow. "You blackmailed him."

She shrugs. "He didn't like when I threatened running away with you. I used that against him." She looks down at her hands as she begins to play with her fingers nervously. "When I got pregnant with you, I wasn't nearly ready for it. Being left alone with you all the time..." she trails off for a moment. "Well, it was a bit scary for me. And as you grew up, I used that as my chance to leave you alone and not have to...deal with you."

A sharp sting shoots through my heart.

"I know I was a horrible mother. And Junghoon didn't help with that. He was abusive and we all already know how mentally insane he is," her jaw tightens in anger. "I wish I could have had enough strength to push him out of your life when he was doing the things he was doing."

"But you didn't," I hiss.

"Like I said. I was--am a bad mother," she sighs. "I'm just glad you had the good sense to run away. I mean, look at you," she smiles. "You're better off."

Soobin decides to speak up. "Junghoon is my uncle."

Eunae looks up at him. "I've heard about you. Choi Soobin, right?"

Soobin nods.

"He's actually proud of you," she speaks. "I'm surprised he could actually feel genuine, nice feelings about anyone, but _you_ ," she chuckles, obviously slightly annoyed, "he doesn't shut up about you. He thinks you're going to be the one to take over after he's gone."

Soobin looks taken aback. "Really?"

She nods. "But it looks like you have other plans," she laughs. "Serves him right. I'd love to see his face when he's actually betrayed."

Soobin scoffs. "I'm sure he knows by now. He's been tracking the Jeon mafia for years. He must know that I'm aligned with them."

She shrugs. "I know nothing about the Jeon mafia."

Jeongguk raises an eyebrow, obviously surprised. Eunae notices this. 

"As I said, he doesn't tell me anything."

"But you know about Park Jimin," Soobin speaks up.

She blinks, her body stiffening. "Yeah, I know of Park Jimin. Thank god I never met the bastard."

Jeongguk's lips twitch up into a smirk. "Yeah, you're better off." 

She nods, slowly. "Cut to the chase. What do you need to know?"

"He and Jimin had some sort of rivalry. We think he was after something that Jimin was in possession of," Jeongguk starts. "Do you have any idea what that could be?"

She shrugs. "He was gone for long periods of time. I have to assume that it was because he was chasing his dumbass nephew all over the place. For what reason? I have no clue."

Jeongguk leans back in his chair, sighing in defeat.

"But if you're wondering if there's something Junghoon is looking for," she continues. "There is. Since Jimin died, he's been after someone new. She is carrying a drug that has the power to desensitize the brain to manipulation of any kind."

Jeongguk slowly leans forward again. "A drug that can prevent mind control?"

She nods. "I have no clue why he wants it. The only reason I know he's looking for it is because he has _loud_ conversations over the phone."

Jeongguk shakes his head in disbelief. "We need to find this before he does. This could mean huge leverage."

"Good luck with that. From what I've heard, there's only one last dose in the entire world," she informs us.

Soobin takes a deep breath, looking at Eunae. "I have one more question." Eunae nods. "My aunt was also married to Junghoon before she died. Did you know her? Is she..."

She shakes her head. "I know Junghoon has had many significant others in his time. I have not been introduced to any of them. He's had many children, as well. It's bound to happen when he likes to fuck anything that breathes," she speaks firmly.

Soobin chuckles. "Well, thanks anyway."

She looks at me. "Yeonjun, I want you to know, that I wish I could have given you a better life. And if you ever need anything," she gives me a sad look, trailing off. "I'm sure you have better people to talk to than me. Stay safe."

I bite down on my lip, nodding as I turn around and walk out the door, tears quickly starting to stream down my face.


	17. SEVENTEEN

**Hoseok's POV**

The past few days, it's been obvious that Yoongi has been avoiding me. He told me that he was going to care for me and make me happy, but now he's basically disappeared. The only thing keeping me motivated to stay alive right now is the fact that I want to find out why he's avoiding me.

Jin walks into my room and plops onto the side of my bed with a huge sigh. "Guess who relapsed," he groans, dropping his face into his hands.

"No," I mumble. "He was doing so well."

"Yeah, he's just been really stressed lately," Jin explains. "I haven't paid enough attention. I should have been trying harder to keep him in check."

"That's not your job."

"But he asked me to take care of him and keep him sober," Jin pulls his head from his hands. "I made him a promise."

I sigh. "Well, in this case, the promise goes both ways. He can't just put that much pressure on you. He also has to pull his own weight. He fell to the pressure."

Jin sighs. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Talk to him. Pull him back. You're the only one who can truly bring him back from this," I nod. " _This_ is the promise you made him. Right here."

Jin smiles. "You're good at advice, Hobi," he speaks. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'd be just fine," I laugh, nervously, scratching the nape of my neck.

"A Hoseok-less life is a meaningless one," a voice comes from the doorway. Yoongi.

Jin chuckles. "Isn't that the truth." He stands up. "Well, I'll you two to it, then." He gives me a knowing smile and walks out the door, closing it behind him.

I look at Yoongi. "It's been a minute since you've even _looked_ in my direction."

Yoongi sighs, walking over and sitting in the chair next to my bed. "I had some shit I had to sort out."

"What kind of shit?" I ask.

Yoongi laughs it off and tries to move to a new subject.

"No, tell me," I persist. "What things did you have to sort out? What was so important that you had to completely ice me out for three days?"

"Hobi..."

"Yoongi," I snap at him. "Just tell me."

My anger is at a boiling point. It's about to burst out of me in a surge of rage. But in a turn of events, something I never expected happens.

Yoongi takes a deep breath, leaning forward and pressing his lips to mine. My eyes go wide and I quickly pull away.

I bring my fingers up to my lips in disbelief. "Wh-what was-"

"N-nothing," he stands up. "I've gotta go."

He rushes out of my room, leaving me there spiraling into oblivion.

\-------------------------------

**Yeonjun's POV**

I let my feet dangle over the roof of the building. I take deep breaths as I lean forward, looking over the edge.

"It's a long way down," Soobin speaks from behind me.

I whip my head around in his direction. He smiles sadly, coming up to sit next to me.

"I didn't know you followed me," I mumble.

He sighs. "I may have lagged behind a bit."

I bite my lip, returning my gaze out in front of me, looking at all of the other buildings and the cars speeding along the streets. "It would have been poetic."

"What?" Soobin asks, surprised.

"It's so pretty," I start to explain. "Dirtying up this pretty little town with some blood. Would've been pretty poetic."

Soobin scoffs. "You mean _your_ blood?"

I slowly nod, looking back over at him. "I was planning to jump off this building, you know." I chuckle humorlessly. "I found Jeongguk here and everything changed for me. I'm glad I didn't jump, actually."

Soobin lets out an audible sigh of relief.

I laugh. "You thought I was thinking about jumping, didn't you?"

Soobin scoots closer to me, resting his head on my shoulder. "How did you even get up here? There are so many stairs," he comments, changing the subject.

I blink. "Walked..."

Soobin lifts his head up and looks at me. "You...walked?"

I nod. "It was a pretty painful experience, but yeah...I walked up all those stairs without my crutches."

"That could make it worse, you know," Soobin chuckles.

"Yeah, I know. I don't care," I mumble. "I just want to go back, for one second, to the way it was before Jimin came back into our lives and ruined everything."

Soobin nods slowly, looking away. "Right..."

I look at him, noticing his shift in demeanor. "I would do anything to get Y/N back, but putting her in danger like that...it scared me." My throat starts to tighten as I talk. "And I took it out on you. I'm sorry."

Soobin looks at me, sadness flooding his eyes. "I know you want Y/N back. I thought I was helping you. I know how much you love her."

I nod. "I do love her."

Soobin sighs. "I feel like, whatever I do, it's never going to be enough for you to stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm the one who practically gunned down your mom," Soobin looks away, standing up.

"Wait," my eyes widen. I stand up and grab him by the arm. "I don't-"

"You do," he nods sadly. "I know you blame me for putting Y/N in danger. I know that when you look at me, you can't shake the feeling that I'm the one who sealed her fate. And you'll never look at me the way you did before she went missing ever again."

"Soobin," I call his name, desperately. "We all make mistakes. It took me talking to my birth mother to finally understand. She made many mistakes taking care of me. She made up for it by letting me go," I pull him closer to me, intertwining our fingers together. "You made a mistake. I overreacted. If I can forgive my stupid mother for being horrible at her job, I can forgive you for something that might not even have put her in danger."

Soobin shakes his head. "Yeonjun-"

"No," I speak. "And what's worse is, I'm treating you like you're on the same level as her and you're _not_. I don't love her. I love _you_."

Soobin's head jerks up.

"I love you, Soobin. I need you. You're the only one balancing my life. You make me happy," I admit.

Soobin's lips turn up into a smile as he pulls me in, pressing his lips to mine. "I love you, too," he whispers against my lips.

All of a sudden my brain jerks to life. I push Soobin away in realization.

"A drug that can resist mind control," I whisper.

"What about it?" Soobin asks. 

"I just...what if Y/N has something to do withthe last dose?"

Soobin chokes out a laugh. "What do you mean?"

"Hear me out. Y/N remembered everything after Jimin compelled her to forget it. What if she has that drug running through her veins...somehow?" I speak.

"That would mean, Junghoon probably knew Jimin had possession of the drug. That's why he was after him," Soobin theorizes. "And that means now...he's after Y/N."

"The carrier of the drug is female. Maybe she doesn't _have_ the drug. Maybe she is the drug," I whisper out.

"Holy shit," Soobin mumbles.

"Junghoon is after Y/N."


	18. EIGHTEEN

**Y/N's POV**

"Thanks, Taemin," I whisper, taking the bottle of water from his hands.

"That was some serious testing he was putting you through," he looks down at his feet, seeming sympathetic. "It looked really uncomfortable."

I nod. "It was, but I'm strong. I can withstand simple chemical testing."

"What is he even looking for?"

I shrug. "At this point, I don't even know. We don't have any breadcrumbs. Our best bet would be to find Junghoon and confront him about it, but since he's too dangerous..." I trail off.

"Maybe he isn't dangerous, though," Taemin suggests. This makes me breathe out a laugh. "I mean, compared to the testing you're going through. It seems like it could fry your brain if he's not careful."

I laugh. "I'm sure it's not that bad. It's only uncomfortable. Not unbearable. Sungho would tell me if he was frying my brain."

Taemin gives me this look as if he doesn't believe me.

I frown. "Do you know something that I don't?"

"No!" He quickly answers. "I trust you. If you say you're fine, then you're fine. I know you're strong."

"But," I urge.

"But when it comes to Junghoon...maybe he's the better option. The safer one," Taemin sighs. "I'm just trying to look out for you here. Who knows what you have in that brain of yours. Maybe Junghoon's information is important. If we're cautious enough, maybe-"

"No," I put my hand up to stop him. "Junghoon is ruthless. Whatever's in my brain, must be really important. If he gets to me, things could go downhill fast. I don't know what it is or what his big plan is, but I know Junghoon. He's evil. I can't let him have this." I turn around about to walk into my room.

"So, you're siding with Jimin," Taemin comments, stopping me in my tracks.

I turn around slowly and narrow my eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

Taemin stiffens ever-so-slightly. My senses kick in. Something's wrong. His pupils are dilated and there's a small trickle of sweat sliding down his temple. He's hiding something.

"Just that Jimin didn't like Junghoon either," he continues, relaxing back into conversation again. "Wasn't his last wish to kill Junghoon?"

I scoff, looking away for a moment, but my eyes return to his. "I haven't told anyone here about Jimin's dying wish, Taemin."

Taemin's fingers find the bottom of his shirt and start to play with it, nervously. "Word gets around."

"How did you know so much about the Jeon mafia when we first met, Taemin?"

He takes a step back as I take a step forward.

"How did you know that I'm the current boss of the Jeons?" I tilt my head, looking into his soul.

"I-I..."

I scoff. "I can practically see your heart beating in your throat, Taemin," I smile, knowingly. "I'm not a naive little girl. If you know so much about me, you know that I'm good with tells. And your body is telling me all I need to know."

I start to walk away, intending to find Sungho, but he grabs me by my wrist.

I quickly twist my hand around in his grasp, grabbing his wrist and twisting his arm behind his back, pushing him forward until his chest hits the nearest wall. "Who are you?"

"Y/N, you know who I-"

I grab his wrist with both hands and push it as far back as I can until I hear a little 'pop'. He groans loudly. I smirk, knowing I just broke his wrist.

"Who the hell are you?"

He tries to push himself away from the wall, but I pull my foot up and step down on the back of his knee, hard, causing him to collapse to the ground, his arm still pinned behind him.

"One last chance."

"I work for your father, I swear!"

I get real close to his ear. "Which one," I whisper before pulling his head back by his hair and slamming it into the wall. He collapses to the floor, unconscious.

I stand up, rolling my eyes. "To think this whole thing almost went to shit because of a stupid boy who doesn't know how to hide his tells from a kinesics expert."

I run down the hallway to the meeting room only to find a man blocking the way.

He smiles down at me. "Looking for Sungho?"

Chills run down my spine. "You won't find him. At least not right now." He points inside the meeting room. "Take a seat. We have some things to discuss."

I slowly walk into the room, keeping my eyes on him at all times. "Park Junghoon, I presume."

"CHOI!" He grits his teeth in anger, making me jump backward in fear. He takes a deep breath, before looking at me with a calmer look in his eyes. "I go by Choi. I don't affiliate myself with the Park family anymore."

"So you took your brother's last name?"

He blinks. "You knew my brother." His tone of voice shows that he's surprised.

"He was my boss at one point in time. His son is like a son to me now," I respond, trying not to show how scared I am.

He walks closer to me, a smile appearing on his lips. "Ah, yes. Soobin. I am aware that he spends time with you and your...son? Is it? Is that what you call him now?"

I clench my jaw. "Don't bring Yeonjun into this."

He points at me. "You brought Soobin into this. It's fair game."

"This isn't a _game_!"

He kneels down, coming eye level with me. He nods, faking a frown. "You're right. This is very serious, actually. You stole something from me and I intend to get it back."

"Hm," I click my tongue. "I would help you if I knew what you were talking about."

He slams his hands down on both sides of my chair, getting up in my face. "Don't play dumb."

"I'm flattered," I giggle. "You think I'm smart."

He growls, pushing off from my chair. "I could easily kill everyone you've ever cared about!"

I scoff. "They'd kill you first."

He chuckles. "Would they now? You're so sure that I haven't already killed one of them for, say...leverage," he slowly looks at me, smirking.

My face drains of its humor. "I swear to god, Junghoon. If you touched any one of them, I will-"

"What will you do? Kill me?" He laughs. "And how would you do that? Unfortunately for you, you've been kept prisoner here for weeks now. You don't have any means of killing me."

I feel my vision starting to blur as I start to panic. What if he has done something to one of them? Yeonjun, Jeongguk.

I look back up at him. "What do you want from me?"

"It's simple, really," he smirks. "You're brain was pumped full of a drug called 'Ricordi' when you were only a child. Your mother created the serum and injected you with it. But she only made one dose and then killed herself to keep the formula a secret forever. She promised me that she'd give _me_ the serum." He chuckles. "A promise is a promise. I don't care if I have to tear my own daughter's brain apart to get it."

"N-no, I'm sure there's another way," I shoot out of my chair and back away from his searching eyes.

"Another way to remove the serum from your _brain_? Not likely," he answers.

"What even is it?"

"I can't believe your good ol' dad didn't tell you. It's a memory drug. It prevents the brain from being tampered with."

"What does that even mean?"

He rolls his eyes, stepping toward me and pressing his finger aggressively to my forehead. "It means that as long as this drug is inside you, no one can mind control you or mess with your memories in any way."

A breath of realization leaves my mouth. "Oh my god."

"That's right. Your mom didn't even give you the choice. She just pumped you full of drugs and for what reason? Hm?" He groans, turning around and kicking a chair over. 

"Why do _you_ want it?" I ask.

He chuckles. "That's my business, isn't it?"

I click my tongue. "I'd be happy to help you try to get it out of me _safely_ if you just tell me why you want it."

He scoffs. "That's not how this works, honey."

He pulls a gun of some sort from his back pocket, aims, and fires.


	19. NINETEEN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ ALL THE TAGS BEFORE READING THIS CHAPTER!!

**Jin's POV**

I told myself I was finally ready to confront him about how he's been acting. At this point, Namjoon's been acting weird around me as well. He knows that I know. 

But I wasn't prepared for whatever his response was going to be. I made a promise to him to try to keep him clean, but that didn't happen. And here we are.

I take a deep breath before storming into his office with my arms crossed. "We need to ta-"

My words are cut off when Namjoon rushes forward pressing a kiss to my lips. "Good afternoon," he speaks with a surprisingly chipper tone.

One of my eyebrows twitches in confusion and annoyance. I bring one of my hands up to massage it as I take a step forward, following him as he returns to his seat.

"As I was saying, we need to talk," I finish.

"About what? I've been watching the cameras all day. Nothing...as usual," he shrugs.

This is so not usual. It's as if he doesn't care at all that Y/N is missing. He's just shut off his remorse and sympathetic feelings. "Namjoon-"

"I know what you're about to say and I'm fine," he nods with a small smile. "Really."

I clench my jaw, clicking my tongue in annoyance on the roof of my mouth. "Listen to me, will you?"

He sighs, an annoying smile on his face. He spins his chair around and looks at me, staying quiet.

"You relapsed, didn't you?" I ask, staying as firm as possible with my gaze.

He raises an eyebrow. "Jinnie, come on," he chuckles. "I'm not that weak-"

"KIM NAMJOON," I loudly cut him off. "I have been here for you since the very beginning. I love you. This is what I'm here for. Be honest with me."

His cocky smile falters slightly. "I...I may have taken a small dose this morning."

"How long?" I ask.

"How long...what?"

"How long have you been using again?" I clarify.

He hesitates to answer, stiffening slightly. "It's not like it was that much. I've been taking small doses to...take the edge off. That's all-"

"How long, Namjoon?"

He slowly stands to his feet, stepping towards me. "A week..."

I nod. "Well, that's...not too bad. We caught it early...right? So, we just-we just get you to rehab and-"

"Jinnie," he reaches forward and grabs at my shoulders. "I feel better like this. I'm controlling it. It's not controlling me."

"Listen to yourself," I swat his hands away. "You won't even listen to the idea of going to rehab. You can't go without the stuff." Namjoon squints, obviously thinking, but there's a hint of cringe on his face that shows he knows how stupid he's being. "Who knows how long it'll be until you are taking bigger doses or maybe taking more than one dose a day?"

A loud, deep breath leaves Namjoon's throat as he grits his teeth, not in anger, but in willpower. He nods slowly, his arms coming up to hug himself.

"Namjoon..."

He slowly turns around, walking back to his chair. "...sorry," he whispers, his voice cracking.

I walk over to his chair, spinning it back around to look at me. He starts to breathe a bit harder, tears coming to his eyes.

"Namjoon, it's okay. We can handle this," I reach up to caress his cheek.

He quickly shakes his head, losing it all at once. "N-no!" He shouts and I pull away from him in shock. "I-I did this. I c-can't be-believe that I-oh my god," he covers his mouth with the back of his hand as he starts to sob.

"Sh, sh, it's okay," I lean over him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and pulling his head to my chest. "You are so strong. Life is unfair sometimes and we've all been through some really tough shit," I speak softly into his ear. "But that's why we have each other. You have me and I'm prepared to catch you whenever you fall and pull you right back up again. Every time."

He sits there breathing hard for multiple minutes as I hold him. His tears come to a slow stop and that's when I glance over his shoulder to the computer. "Oh my god!"

I pull away from him slightly. Namjoon looks at his computer and springs to life, rolling his chair away from me and starting to click away at his keyboard.

"He's not really stupid enough..." I mumble.

"He is," a smile slowly turns up on Namjoon's lips. "Get Jeongguk. Now."

\----------------------------

"So what does this mean, exactly?" Yoongi leans against the doorway, arms folded in front of him.

"It means that we have a location," Namjoon speaks. "A secure one. It's not the Kim house. It's another area, a dead zone where cameras don't reach."

"Junghoon led us straight to it," I explain. "License plates matched. He used one of his cars like an idiot."

"Either it's a trap or he was really excited to get there," Jeongguk mumbles.

"And we're _sure_ he's after Y/N?" Yoongi asks.

"It's a theory," Jeongguk nods. "But a good one."

"What happened to not waltzing into a fight that we can't win?" Yoongi raises an eyebrow.

"Well, in this case, there are two options," I point out. "Either we walk into a fight where both Sungho and Junghoon are working together _or_ , the more plausible option, Sungho has been hiding Y/N from Junghoon, meaning, we walk in and gain some help from whatever soldiers Sungho has on hand."

"Why do you think Sungho's been hiding her?" Jeongguk asks.

"You said it yourself," Namjoon starts. "Junghoon is after Y/N because she is in possession of a drug that he wants for some reason. A drug that Y/N has _inside_ her. Imagine what Junghoon has to do to remove it from her. Sungho is a shithole of a father, but he isn't _that_ horrible. Remember, I was close to Doyun, her brother, for a period of time. He spoke of Sungho in a way that suggests he means well."

"So we're just banking on the fact that Sungho isn't actually a deadbeat?" Jeongguk scoffs.

"We're banking on the fact that Sungho is actually smart enough to hide her where even we couldn't find her for _weeks_ ," Namjoon chuckles in awe. "He's desperate to keep her hidden."

"And Junghoon just found her..." Jeongguk mumbles.

"So we need to go there quickly. It's our best bet," Yoongi nods. "We can't just sit around forever."

"Then I'm coming, too," Hoseok suddenly speaks from outside of the room. We all turn to look at him in surprise.

"You're up?" Yoongi whispers, shocked. "And...walking around."

Hoseok sighs with a smile. "I'm weak, but...better. I think all of my memories are back. And I know something that you guys are going to be interested in."

I raise an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Hoseok steps forward slowly. "Jimin and Junghoon were well of each other's allies and staff. Jimin often mentioned things about Junghoon's minions. At the top of the ranks was a boy by the name of Taemin. Sweet-looking on the outside, apparently an evil psychopath on the inside."

Namjoon jumps in his chair and spins in around. "Surname?"

"Lee," Hoseok speaks firmly.

Namjoon types in a few things. "Found his car. Leads to the same place Junghoon just went to. He's been there for a couple of weeks now."

"Doesn't this confirm that Sungho and Junghoon are working together?" Yoongi scrunches his forehead in confusion.

"No," Hoseok shakes his head. "Taemin works as an undercover spy. That's why of all of Junghoon's minions, Jimin made sure to recognize this kid's face."

Jeongguk lets out a breath in wonder. "Well, shit," he chuckles. "Let's go, then. Yoongi, you're coming with me. Everyone else is staying behind."

"What?" Hoseok exclaims. "I'm better. I promise."

"You're weak," Yoongi shakes his head.

I bite my lip. "You do need as many people as you can get."

Jeongguk groans, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "I can grab Soobin and Yeonjun."

"You're gonna take children over me?" Hoseok throws his hands up in exasperation.

"Children who know their way around a gun," Jeongguk shrugs, then walks out of the room.

Yoongi glances at Hoseok with a small smile, before turning to walk away.

"Yoongi," Hoseok calls after him. Yoongi turns around. "Don't die. We have shit to talk about when you get back."

Yoongi smiles and walks out of the room.


	20. TWENTY

**Jeongguk's POV**

Arriving at the "safe house" was the only exciting thing to happen to me since proposing to Y/N all those weeks ago. Our lives hadn't necessarily been simpler or safer, our lives have never been simple or safe, but they sure were easier and a lot less chaotic and scary.

I should have seen it coming. Y/N running towards the danger to find Doyun. I knew how much she loved him. I guess I just didn't want to think that she'd leave me. I didn't want to be that mafia boyfriend that kept her locked up and watched over her all the time. She's capable enough on her own, which is why the fact that she's been kidnapped for this long is interesting. I'd like to think that if she had wanted to escape, she would have.

"I can see your gears turning," Yeonjun walks up beside me as we make our way up to the front door. I let out a breathy chuckle. "Shouldn't we be walking up with guns in our hands, ready for a shoot-out or something?"

"I think the peaceful approach is our best option," I shrug, "until things get out of hand."

"Peaceful is ideal. Is it probable?" Yoongi clicks his tongue. "Probably not."

"We've gone through this before," Soobin comments, grabbing Yeonjun's hand. "We can do it again."

"It feels weird that we're just strolling up to the door-" Yeonjun starts, but is cut off by the door being thrown open.

Doyun rushes out. "Jeongguk," he breathes out, relieved. He grabs me by the shoulder. "We have been waiting for the day you would arrive."

"Why wouldn't you just reach out?" I speak, curiosity picking at me tirelessly.

He shakes his head. "Inside."

I nod and walk alongside Doyun through the front door, leading the other three behind me. We walk down a long hallway.

"Blood on the walls," Soobin whispers, pointing to one of the walls to the side of us.

I look to Doyun for an explanation.

"Y/N is the cause of that," he answers, quietly. "It's not what you think. I can promise you that."

He leads us into a large room with a long table in the middle of it, chairs surrounding it. A meeting room. Sungho sits at the far end looking lost in thought, a large bruise on his cheek and an ice pack held to the top of his head.

"What happened here?" I ask, not knowing for sure if I want an answer.

"Sit," Sungho speaks firmly.

Soobin looks at me hesitantly but is the first to pick a chair, pulling out the one next to him for Yeonjun. Yoongi and I sit next to them, farthest away from Sungho, while Doyun stays standing, walking over to the other side of the room with Sungho. He sighs loudly as the doors to the room shut.

"I'm sure you're looking for answers," Sungho begins, sounding tired. "And while we don't have all of them, we do have most of them. Please," he looks up at us, "tell us what you already know."

I shake my head. "Are we on the same side here?"

Sungho clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "We both want to keep Y/N safe. I can assure you of that. Either way," he drops the ice pack from his head and sets it on the table, "do you really have another option?"

"I'm sure we could-"

"No, we couldn't," Yeonjun chimes in, cutting me off. He glares in my direction, then looks back at Sungho. "We'll cooperate, but if anything goes south, we're prepared to walk out of here, and whatever you are _really_ wanting from us, you'll lose forever."

Sungho's emotionless lips suddenly turn up into a small smile. "Yeonjun, is it?" He speaks softly, with compassion and a gentleness that I never would have expected.

Yeonjun nods slowly.

"She spoke incredibly highly of you," he looks down at his hands on the table, his smile starting to disappear. "She misses-missed you more than anything in this world."

I grit my teeth, starting to lose my patience. "Will someone please tell me why we're speaking in past tense?"

Sungho continues his gaze at his hands. "I'm sure you know the basics. Junghoon is the common enemy here."

I nod. "We figured that out, yes."

"He's my uncle," Soobin speaks.

Sungho nods. "I'm aware of that. She was determined to help us as fast as possible in order to keep you, two boys, safe. She knew how close in contact you were with him."

"Help you?" I ask.

Doyun steps forward. "Junghoon is after a drug called 'Ricordi'. It's an Italian word that means 'memories'. Are you familiar with it?"

I shake my head. "No, never heard of it. I assume that's the drug Y/N has inside her, right?"

Sungho nods. "Her mother had access to some of my mafia's equipment back when she was still alive. She created this drug only for the purpose of keeping her safe. She only made one dose."

"And she used it on Y/N," Yeonjun deducts. "Why?"

Sungho hesitates to answer. "To understand everything, you need to understand her background and how she came to be apart of the Kim mafia."

"Well try to sum it up," I speak firmly.

_~Flashback~_

Loud knocks echoed through the house. Sungho groans, walking quickly to the door. He opens it to find a woman in distress, tears streaming down her face.

"Please, help me. I need to hide. He's coming after me," she sobs, periodically glancing behind her in panic.

His eyes scan the woman's body to find a sizable bump on her stomach. He looks up at her face and steps aside, allowing her inside. She rushes inside immediately.

"Thank you," she speaks. "A man, the father of my child, he's a madman. A psychopath. I only ask to stay for a few days." She suddenly glances behind him, smiling and wiping her tears. "Is he yours?"

"Papa," a small boy mumbles, stumbling forward.

"Doyun," the man sighs, turning around and picking the child up. "Isn't it past your bedtime?" He pokes at his belly, making the boy gasp out a soft giggle.

The woman sighs. "I am very sorry for intruding. I know I must be a bother."

Sungho glances back at her, thinking to himself how he would feel if his pregnant ex-wife were in trouble like this. He would want someone to step forward and take care of the issue. He currently has the power to do that.

"You're welcome here as long as you want," Sungho speaks. "I have a spare room that you can use. But things are...different around here. I'm not a regular man with a regular job. I do...dangerous things."

She smiles. "I'm aware you are a mafia boss, mister Kim. That's why I came to you."

Sungho is taken aback. "What's your true agenda?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing like that. I just needed to get away from a bad situation...for her sake," she looks down at her belly.

A girl. "What do you propose I do?"

She smiles up at the man. "Keep her-us-safe. Just long enough for him to forget about us. I wouldn't ask this if it wasn't important."

Sungho nods slowly, understanding. "My men will ask questions."

"To them and everyone else, I am your wife. You found out I was pregnant with your child and you immediately signed wedding papers," she explains.

Everything seems thought-out. "What's your name?"

She smiles. "My name is..."

_~End of Flashback~_

"In this line of work, I knew no one would ask questions," Sungho explains. "Even Y/N didn't know the truth until I explained it to her a couple of weeks ago."

I shake my head in disbelief. "So you're telling me that Y/N is Junghoon's biological daughter?"

"For all reasons that actually matter, Y/N is _my_ daughter," he sighs. "But, yes, that is what I'm telling you."

Yeonjun slowly looks up, processing all the information. "That would mean..."

Sungho smiles. "As I said, she's missed you beyond belief."

Yeonjun lets out a choked gasp, jaw dropped in awe. "Holy shit."

"And I thought the fact that Yeonjun and I were kinda sorta related was weird," Soobin mumbles.

Yoongi pipes in for the first time. "How does this have anything to do with the drug?"

Sungho looks over at Yoongi. "Again, she somehow got ahold of our scientific equipment, specifically made to produce drugs. I found out that Junghoon wanted her to create this drug. She was a genius. Formulas just swirled around her head, formulas that no one in the world would even think of," he explains, a look of awe on his face. "This drug, if taken apart, could mean terrible things to the rest of society. It has so many components in it. There's a part of it that cares for the part of the brain that listens to directions and commands. There's a part of it that cares for a person's emotions and honesty. There's a part that cares for a person's memories."

Soobin nods. "So you're saying, if this drug is dissected, these parts can be isolated and used for bad things?"

Sungho nods. "The effects can be reversed."

"Reversed?" I question.

Sungho lets out a breath of worry. "The part of the drug that once protected the brain from being tampered with can be reversed to wipe whole sets of memories and create emotionless, obedient drones with no serum of reversal."

Yoongi leans forward in his seat, finally intrigued. "That's a lot for one drug."

Sungho nods. "Like I said, her mother was a genius. She thought of everything with this drug and if it gets in his hands, the human race as we know it could be gone forever."

"Does Y/N know what this drug can do?" I ask.

A look appears on Sungho's face that makes me uneasy. "I never got the chance to tell her. If she, in any way, tries to help him get that out of her..." he trails off.

"Why would she help him?" Yoongi mumbles under his breath.

Yeonjun sighs, leaning forward. "It's in the brain, right?" Sungho nods, a knowing look on his face. "She's trying to save her ass. I wanna bet it would take dissecting her brain to get that drug out of her. It would kill her. She's trying to stay alive by helping him do it in a safe way."

"It's much more than that," Sungho adds. "Junghoon knows that he has two valuable members of her family just under his nose. He's prepared to use you as leverage to get what he wants."

"The real question here is where are they?" Yoongi asks.

"Junghoon got ahold of her and took her somewhere we don't know," Sungho explains. "We don't have anyone on the inside and he is very careful about his whereabouts and who knows them."

"I think I know a guy," Soobin nods.


	21. TWENTY ONE

**Soobin's POV**

I guide Yeonjun through the club, power-walking to the back where the dressing rooms are.

"You know," Yeonjun starts to speak, tugging at my hand. I stop and turn around to look at him with a curious look on my face.

"Aren't we kind of in a bit of a time crunch right now?" I point behind me, glancing back there quickly.

Yeonjun breathes out a chortle, pulling me close to him. "Yes, but I need to tell you something."

"Oh, am I pulling you too fast? I know you said your leg is getting better, but I promised to take it slow-"

"No, it's not that," he chuckles. "If you haven't noticed, I've stopped limping completely."

I bite my lip, half-assuming it has something to do with the fact that his hands are resting on both sides of my hips and actively pulling me closer to him. "So, what is it then?"

He gives me a half-smile, looking down at the floor for a moment. It's a look I've never seen from him. He's proud.

"I almost forgot how good you are at this," he states. "I was so busy trying to protect you from mafia life that I forgot that you're a natural at it."

I grin, feeling a sense of pride in myself that I hadn't felt lately.

"And I don't mean to say that it's who you are exactly, but it's a part of you and I don't want to be the one forcing you away from it," he speaks carefully.

"Junnie," I whisper, reaching up to encase his face softly between my hands. "Even if you weren't pushing me to do it, I'd want out of that shit hole. I mean, especially now that I know who I've been working for all this time. And on top of that, I love you. Your opinion matters to me. So, yeah, you might be one of the reasons I'm leaving that industry, but you're not the only one."

He nods.

"Besides, I don't plan to leave mafia life completely," I add. "I like to consider your family my own. I would gladly stay as a soldier for this mafia than continue on as anything for my uncle's mafia."

Yeonjun shrugs playfully. "I mean, you _are_ pretty damn good at it. It would be a waste of potential to throw it all away just for your stupid boyfriend."

"No," I shake my head. "He's not stupid. Just a little over-protective. But what else should I expect from my mafia boyfriend?"

He laughs, nudging my hands away from his face. "Let's go."

We continue to the back only to find all of the dressing rooms empty. "Where the fuck did everyone go?"

"Granting time off isn't a normal thing for Mr. Rapist to do, I take it?" Yeonjun comments under his breath, still walking down the hallway and rechecking each room.

"No, he'd be losing money," I reply. "I didn't even notice that no one was on stage right now."

Suddenly Yeonjun's phone rings. He quickly pulls it out of his pocket and brings it up to his ear. "Talk to me."

I watch as his face goes from worried to slightly less worried to a look of utter surprise.

"No, Damien isn't here. No one is. Looks like Junghoon gave everyone the day off," he pauses, listening. "Either that or he fired everyone because I checked every room. No one is here."

"Is that Jeongguk?" I whisper.

He nods. "Soobin doesn't have Damien's number. It was an unnecessary risk. We didn't want him to get caught," he continues talking to Jeongguk. "I know it's backfiring now, but we can't think like that." He looks over at me, pushing the phone to the side for a moment. "Where do you think he would go?"

I shrug. "I barely knew him. He could be anywhere."

Yeonjun clenches his jaw, pulling his phone back to his ear. "No, he doesn't know. How about Namjoon?" A pause. "So, you're telling me, Junghoon wasn't smart enough to rig the cameras on his way to Sungho's house, but he's smart enough to rig them now?"

"He wanted us to find Sungho," I mumble. Yeonjun hears and gives me a slight nod. He doesn't say it into the phone, letting me know that Jeongguk probably said the same thing.

"What are our options?" Yeonjun asks.

His face turns serious.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Lee Eunae."

\--------------------------------------

**Hoseok's POV**

"So, you're okay then?" I ask, practically clinging to Yoongi protectively.

He chuckles, shrugging me away from him. "We're all fine. Except for maybe Sungho. He looked a bit beaten up."

I lean back in my bed with a sigh. "What if he actually ended up being there when you got there? You weren't equipped enough."

"Good thing, it didn't come to that," Yoongi laughs. "Why are you so bent out of shape? It all turned out fine."

"But it could have turned out very differently," I exclaim.

Yoongi's amused look darkens. "But it didn't. You should be relieved, not at my throat," he rolls his eyes, ready to walk out of the room.

Before he gets to the door, I speak up. "You kissed me," he freezes, "Why?"

He slowly turns around to look at me. "Like I said, I was...sorting some stuff out."

I let out an exasperated breath, running my fingers through my hair. Anger starts to creep up inside me. "What kind of stuff were you sorting out that resulted in you kissing me? What kind of experiment do you think I am? You trying to use me to make yourself feel better about the fact that your boyfriend is dead? Was that a way for you to see if you could be less repulsed by me?"

"Less repulsed by you?" He repeats in obvious disbelief.

I click my tongue. "I don't know what to think! It came out of nowhere and then you left and avoided me for _days_!"

Yoongi takes a deep, shaky breath. "Okay," he whispers, walking up to my bed and sitting down on the edge. "I had a talk with Jeongguk a while ago. He told me you used to feel...things for me."

My heart suddenly drops to my stomach. "He told you that?"

"Yeah," he mumbles, refusing to look at me. "I just wanted to-"

"You were trying to make me feel better, weren't you?" I speak a bit more calmly. "You used it against me. I know you feel some sort of way about the fact that I almost killed myself. For some reason, you won't let me just go through with it, but I don't need that kind of sympathy, okay?"

"That's not why I did it," Yoongi replies, shaking his head. "I never noticed. I never knew you even looked at me like that."

I hesitate for a moment. "Well, you were busy looking at someone else. It's understandable."

He nods. "I would have much rathered you told me."

"Just to get my heart broken more than it already was? No thanks," I speak with mild sarcasm.

He rolls his eyes. "I'm serious, though. Maybe things would be different...now."

I shake my head. "I killed the man you loved. If you would have known that I felt that way about you, you would have thought I did it on purpose. Hell, I might have."

He doesn't answer.

"Nothing would have changed. I didn't tell you because you were happy."

He slowly nods his head. "Yeah, I was. But you're a lot like him. I don't know how I never noticed. You two share the same heart and liveliness. But you're different in a lot of ways, too. He always forced a smile even when he was going through internal torture," Yoongi smiles, remembering his love. "But you're different. You feel things with your whole soul, your whole body. When you're sad, you show it. When you're happy, the feeling spreads to everyone around you. You can't help but be emotionally honest."

I can feel my throat tightening as tears blur my vision. "Does knowing this change your view of me? Does it change anything? Because I wanna bet it doesn't."

"Hobi," he reaches out to me. "I see you now. I'm looking. I'm here."

I slowly bring my eyes to his. "No," I shake my head, feeling in my heart that he is not being completely honest with himself. "You may be looking but you don't truly see. You're here physically, but not emotionally. I can tell that you want to be...for my sake."

Yoongi pulls away, looking down. "I care about you, Hoseok."

"You know I care about you, but I'm not selfish enough to take what isn't mine," I sigh, a tear falling down my face. "Your heart doesn't belong to me. Even though he's gone, I know you still feel him."

"He would want me to be here for you," Yoongi speaks softly.

"And you can be," I nod, sniffling. "But not like that. I know you, Yoongi. You don't feel that way for me. Was that what the kiss was for? To see if you could feel that way about me?"

Yoongi hesitates to answer, but slowly nods.

"And you can't."

"No," he whispers. "I wish I could," his voice cracks.

I bite my lip, my body threatening to break out into full-on sobs. "Well, that's all I need to hear then."

"Hobi..."

"It's alright," I let out a deep breath, my shoulders falling. "I've been best friends with you for years. That won't change just because of this."

Yoongi slowly stands to his feet. "Maybe-"

"Don't..." I close my eyes. "Don't give me hope. Just let friends be good enough."

Yoongi nods and walks out of the room.


End file.
